Listen To Your Heart
by scifiromance
Summary: When an accident has life altering consequences for Seven, will she become further isolated from the crew or allow Chakotay and her friends to help her to adapt? C/7.
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: ANOTHER new fic! I promise that I am working on my already ongoing ones too; it's just that when a new idea occurs to me it tends to block the inspiration for everything else. Please give this new one a chance and review! :D It's set some time after "Natural Law".**

"…and then she changed her mind again and said she wanted fresh oranges from Hydroponics instead, so I had to run down there at two in the morning and get her some!" Tom finished his story emphatically, turning away from the Delta Flyer's controls to look curiously at Chakotay and Seven behind him. He knew they hadn't been listening to him; he'd been around long enough to recognise flirtation when he heard it, but he wanted to see the looks on their faces when he caught them. "So what do you think was B'Elanna's weirdest pregnancy craving?"

Chakotay looked at him blankly, frantically trying to remember what Tom had been ranting on about for the last half an hour rather than thinking how cute Seven looked when she was blushing, as she was now. "Um… I don't know, they're all a bit weird I guess."

Tom had to suppress the urge to grin; it was fun seeing the collected Commander so flustered. "What do you think Seven?" he asked the still blushing former Borg drone.

Seven focused her eyes downward onto her console. "I doubt Lieutenant Torres would appreciate my comments." Her heart skipped a beat as she heard Chakotay laugh in agreement beside her and she found her lips to be curving up into a smile as she read the console readings. "If you are so interested in what others think of your wife's eating habits, perhaps you should ask when we return to Voyager, which should be in 5.2 minutes."

Tom put his hands up in the air defensively, "Okay, okay! I get your point!" he laughed as he stood up from his console and headed towards the back of the ship. "I'll just go and check that the supplies are well enough secured, there's a lot of spacial interference around here."

Chakotay nodded, "That's fine." He sighed in relief as soon as Tom was out of earshot and again leaned over Seven's console, their faces within a few centimetres of each other. "I expected us to be on our second date right now, not on a supply mission with a moaning father-to-be."

Seven arched her eyebrows teasingly, "And why can't an away mission together count towards a second date Commander?" she asked lightly, on the brink of laughter.

"It might have done, if the Captain had let me pilot as well as command. Then we could've spent the last nine hours alone."

"Given your track record with shuttles, I doubt that the Captain would be willing to risk the Delta Flyer." Seven replied wryly.

Chakotay pretended to pout even as he laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I haven't crashed any more times than Tom has…" He began to retort but stopped as he saw Seven tense, her eyes suddenly fixed on the console. "What is it?" he asked in concern, all jokes forgotten.

Seven stood up from her seat and ran to the main controls, "There's some sort of electromagnetic pulse heading towards us, we have to avoid it!"

Chakotay didn't have to think twice, running towards the back of the ship. "Tom! Get back here now!" A sudden scream of agony sent chills up his spine and he turned back to see some sort of electricity surging up from the console and into Seven's body, her implants sparking sinisterly. "Seven!" he began to cry out, just as the main force of the pulse hit the ship and sent his body flying against a bulkhead, causing him to blackout instantly.

* * *

><p>"Doctor, is there really nothing else you can do? She'll take it so hard…" Chakotay dimly recognised the Captain's voice and tried to force open his heavy lids, but not before he heard the Doctor's resigned reply.<p>

"I know she will, but unless a miracle happens…" The hologram trailed off, "In reality it could've been much worse, I managed to stop the bleeding in her brain and if her optical or motor implants had also been affected, she'd be blind or paralysed."

"I doubt that will comfort her much right now…" The Captain muttered. Chakotay began to feel panic tighten in his gut and forced himself into full consciousness, groaning slightly as he moved. The Captain heard him, "Doctor, Chakotay's waking up!"

Chakotay pushed himself up, "What happened?" he managed to gasp out before the Doctor pushed him gently back against the biobed.

"Relax please Commander, you took give a battering…" He soothed.

"I can't relax!" Chakotay snapped back, "What happened? Where are Seven and Tom?"

"You were in an accident Commander, Tom is fine, I've already released him back to his quarters to rest, which is what you should do too."

Chakotay frowned at him fearfully, "And Seven?" he asked tersely, more frightened than he'd thought he'd be to hear the answer.

The Doctor sighed heavily and exchanged an apprehensive glance with the Captain, who nodded reluctantly. "Seven…got the worst of the shock." He saw Chakotay pale and was quick to reassure him, "She'll live, we got her back here quick enough to make sure of that…"

"But?" Chakotay pressed, his fists clenching around the edge of the biobed.

"But the electromagnetic surge entered her implants. Her aural implants, the ones that control her hearing, took the brunt of it. I managed to repair the damage to the other implants, but the damage they sustained is irreversible."

Chakotay swallowed hard as he tried to process this overwhelming information. Finally, he said thickly, "Are you saying she's been deafened Doctor?"

The Doctor nodded sadly, "Profoundly most likely. She's still unconscious, so I haven't been able to perform all of the tests but…"

Chakotay shook his head in disbelief, "I don't understand, there are ways to get around damage to the ears aren't there? They've been doing cochlear implants for centuries now and my cousin…"

Pain flickered across the Doctor's face, "If it were just her ears, yes I could fix it, but the energy travelled through her implants to the part of her brain that actually interprets the sound."

"That's what caused the brain haemorrhage?" Chakotay asked broken, grief for Seven beginning to overtake his shock.

"Yes. Fortunately I managed to stop it before it affected any other region. This type of injury is rare, no technology will take the place of her brain and trying to operate on her brain may well cause more damage, even kill her." The Doctor bit his lip to control himself as both Chakotay and the Captain gasped, the certainty of the situation now really hitting home. He looked at them both sorrowfully, "I'm sorry to have to say it, but in all probability Seven's going to have to adapt to the fact that she's going to be deaf for the rest of her life."

* * *

><p>The first thing Seven gradually grew aware of was a crippling headache storming through her skull. When she began to open her eyes she felt like her head was going to explode and grimaced painfully. The Doctor's face suddenly loomed above her, a relieved smile passing momentarily over his face before his lips began to move. Seven frowned in confusion, watching his dancing mouth intently, why was the Doctor treating her if he were malfunctioning? She sat up slowly, resisting the Doctor's anxious moves to pin her down. She turned to him sharply in irritation, "Doctor, I think your vocal processor…" Her hand sprang to her throat as she belatedly realised she couldn't hear her own voice. She began to shake involuntarily as she thought of voicing a word, any word. "What…" She choked in disbelief and fear as she felt her throat vibrate and her lips move. Yes, she had definitely spoken, but… Her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed the Captain and Chakotay watching her, both looking white faced and anxious. Her stomach twisted with the realisation that something was definitely wrong. Keeping her eyes on her observers she snatched up a hypospray and threw it to the floor as violently as she could, watching as Chakotay and the Captain winced from the impact, the <em>sound<em>. That was just it, for her there had been no sound, no crash or smash, she had to turn her eyes to the floor to check that it even _had_ hit the floor as she had intended. It had, it now lay broken to pieces on the floor tiles next to her bed. She twisted back around to face the Doctor, truly frightened. "Doctor, I am unable to hear..." She forced the words out, again pressing her fingers momentarily to her lips to check she was actually speaking.

His lips moved again, only a short phrase this time, one she was relatively sure was "I know."

"What caused this?" she asked fretfully. The Captain moved forward now and began to speak at the same time as the Doctor, but to Seven they were both unintelligible. Tears of frustration began to form in her eyes, "I cannot understand you! Tell me in some other way." She ordered.

The Doctor's shoulders slumped, indicating a sigh she couldn't hear, as he handed her an obviously pre-prepared PADD to read. Seven snatched it from him and began to read, her heart sinking with every word she read, every scan of her implants and of her brain. Tears began to burn at her eyes again and threatened to fall, but she resolutely held them back. "Test me, test the extent of the damage!" she snapped in panic.

Chakotay swallowed as the Doctor pulled out a device and put little microphones and sensors in Seven's ears before handing her another PADD. "It says she's to tell me if she hears anything." The Doctor explained when he saw the Captain's curious expression. Chakotay couldn't help but hope for a miracle that would prove false all he had already witnessed as the test started, but as Seven failed to react to even the loudest or most radically pitched sounds, that hope died within him and left him feeling numb. "Profound." The Doctor concluded unhappily as he removed the device, "She can't hear anything."

Seven must have seen their faces fall for she turned even paler, her every muscle tense. "How long will this last?" she asked. Chakotay couldn't help but notice the change her voice, the slightest unevenness in the volume and pitch, but she couldn't hear herself to know.

Seven waited as they processed her question, but it wasn't the relief she'd hoped for when she read the PADD the Doctor gave her with his answer, "Indefinitely." A sob rose in her throat and broke free as she sprang to her feet. The Captain reached for her, her lips moving rapidly as her eyes filled with pity. Seven wrenched her away with a wordless cry which reverberated in her throat as she fled.

"Seven, wait…" The Captain called after her, cringing when she realised that would no effect and instead going to follow her but Chakotay firmly held her back.

"Leave her alone Kathryn." He whispered painfully.

* * *

><p>Hyperventilation shook Seven's chest as she ran blindly to her Cargo Bay, hoping to hear the click of her heels from her purposely stomping steps, but it was in vain. Warm tears now staining her face she rushed inside and said in what she hoped was a shout to the Computer, "Play Beethoven's Third Symphony!" The Cargo Bay remained, stubbornly, heartbreakingly, silent, but Seven still stormed over to the console and manually pushed the volume up as far as it would go. Gasping, hysterical, tears finally began to wrack her body as she felt huge vibrations travel up from her feet and watched objects around her shudder in reaction to the sound waves, sound was there but inaccessible. "No…" She choked out, collapsing to her knees on the floor and pressing her back against the vibrating speakers, hoping for a miracle even as she cried.<p>

* * *

><p>Chakotay had at first rang her doorbell unthinkingly, then just walked in, the sound of classical music so loud it made his ears ring. "Seven, can I turn that…" He began, halting when he realised she was unaware of his presence, staring into space with her body curled against the console that was thudding out the music. "Computer, stop music." He ordered sadly before cautiously walking into her line of vision.<p>

Seven stiffened as she felt the vibrations hitting her body cease abruptly and glanced around before seeing Chakotay, inhaling sharply as he smiled weakly in relief and knelt down beside her, his dark eyes full of shared grief and sympathy, and his handsome face creased with anxiety. She winced as she watched his lips move in speech. She'd never hear his lovely voice again! This thought suddenly filled her with anger, why was he even here? Didn't he realise that he was only causing her more pain? Tears blurred her vision again as she shoved him away, "Why are you here? I _can't_ understand you!" she shrieked, "Why are you even bothering to talk to me?" she asked through more tears, "Just leave me _alone_…" She gasped in surprise as he hugged tightly, pulling her against his chest. She gulped as she realised he was offering the only comfort he could, before burying her head in his shoulder and letting herself give in completely to her tears.

**A/n: How will Seven cope with this? I know this premise is unusual, but I wanted to challenge myself. I REALLY hope you don't hate it so far, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this story so far, I really appreciate it. This chapter introduces American Sign Language into the story, written as **_ITALIC CAPITALS_**. I chose to use ASL because the show is American and according to canon Janeway had learned it. I apologise in advance for any inaccuracies in my description of the signs.**

Seven's chest tightened in that now ever present feeling of anxiety as she saw how crowded the Mess Hall was; she'd had a dislike of crowds ever since she'd been freed from Collective, but now that she had only her eyes to rely on to detect dangers and encroachment into her personal space that dislike had become a near paralysing fear. She seriously considered just turning around and returning to her Cargo Bay, but the hungry growl of her stomach and the fact that she knew she couldn't feasibly hide in there forever, as she had the last ten days, pushed her cautiously forwards into the melee.

She couldn't hold back a sigh of relief as she reached a replicator. "Nutritional supplement Seven of Nine 11 beta." She ordered quickly, snatching it up as soon as it had materialised and making a beeline for one of the remaining empty tables, rubbing at her temples as she did so in attempt to ease her near constant tension headache. I will adapt, I _have_ to… She mentally lectured herself in order to keep calm as people moved around her with no warning, intensifying her feelings of claustrophobia and entrapment. A sudden jab in the back from someone's elbow jolted her violently from her thoughts, her heart racing in fright as she wheeled around, almost spilling her supplement as she did so. The culprit, Crewman Young, gave her an apologetic, if distracted, smile as the word "Sorry" passed rapidly over his lips. Seven forced herself to nod in acknowledgement of the apology and sank into a chair with shaking legs. She breathed a frustrated sigh; I should not fall apart like this every time someone approaches me from behind! She berated herself, a lump of shame rising in her throat as she gulped down her supplement. She'd always thought being wrenched from the Collective would be the worst shock and trauma she'd have to experience, but this loss was on a par with that, in fact this was even more isolating. She'd gone from someone fully integrated into the thoughts and senses of billions of drones to someone not even able to completely absorb her own individual environment in the space of four short years. "Behind" was a non-existent concept for her now, as was anything outside her narrow line of vision...

She bit her lip as the agonising feelings of inadequacy and imperfection overwhelmed her again and had to swallow hard to restraint the tears that, for the moment, always threatened. Deciding, with characteristic determination, to focus on something useful, she scanned the silent movements and features of those around her. She'd always rather enjoyed what the Captain termed "people watching" before; it was now a significantly more stressful activity as she tried to glean information with her frustratingly limited lip-reading ability. In trying to learn this, she'd finally realised what the Borg had stolen from her in terms of socialisation, there were some facial expressions she just couldn't seem to interpret.

One face she whose emotions she could see with transparent ease approached her eagerly, his beaming smile moving in an uninterrupted stream of speech. "I do not want anything else to eat Mr Neelix." She told him softly but firmly, holding up her mug as evidence. His brows moved upwards in surprise, obviously knowing she couldn't possibly understand him. This was true, unlike the fragments she could get from others; Neelix's words were entirely inaccessible, unless she learned to lip-read Talaxian as well as English. Her universal translator had been another casualty of the accident; her brain damage had rendered it useless. "90% of our past conversations within the Mess Hall have began with something similar to "Do you want something else to eat Seven?"" She explained to the bemused Talaxian as matter-of-factly as she could. He laughed at that, though Seven could tell it was weak and strained. He gave her an encouraging pat on the arm before she saw him look away and begin to address someone else. She followed his gaze, stiffening when she realised it was the Doctor.

The hologram looked positively relieved to see her as he sat down across from her, PADD in hand. "How are you?" he said. Seven knew those words by lip-reading perfectly; it was generally the first thing most people who bothered to speak to her said.

"I'm fine." She responded tightly.

He sighed now, and asked something about her lip-reading, but she wasn't confident enough, or inclined for that matter, to answer him. Irritation now made his mouth open wider as he spoke. "Speak to me Seven!"

Seven flinched. "I am not certain of what you said." She replied sharply.

Understanding and unease flickered across his face as he began to write on the PADD. Seven's eyes focused on the PADD, but he tapped her insistently on the hand and then pointed to his lips, obviously wanting her to watch him speak the words as he wrote them. In the back of her mind, Seven knew he was trying to help her, but feeling patronised, her hackles still rose. As if I don't already know the basic premise! She fumed internally. He finished and pushed the PADD towards her which she read, "Lip-reading is always going to have an element of trial and error, but you need to remember that you have your memories of what its like to hear, you could be a very accomplished lip-reader, if you keep trying."

Seven frowned, her anger deepening as she recalled doing nothing throughout these last few days but watching holodeck programmes and her own lips in a mirror in attempts to improve. What else did he think she'd been doing? "I am still adapting to this situation Doctor."

"Of course you are." He said quickly, though emphatically enough that Seven could see it. His following sentences may as well have been gibberish for all she got from them. Again he wrote on the PADD and she read, "The confidence will come. It's okay to make mistakes sometimes, the crew won't mind."

"But I _will _mind!" Seven snapped in retort, past her limit of endurance for this conversation. She cringed as she saw several people turning to look at her curiously, pity evident in their features. Her voice must've become louder than she'd intended. Standing up abruptly, she began to leave; wincing as the Doctor hastily grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back around to face him.

"I'm sorry Seven. It's okay to…" He began.

"Excuse me Doctor, I have work to complete." She cut him off icily before again turning on her heel and rushing out of the room.

* * *

><p>"I'm very worried about her Captain." The Doctor anxiously told Janeway an hour later as he stood in her Ready Room, briefing her on Seven's condition.<p>

"We all are Doctor." The Captain agreed with a glance at a strained looking Chakotay, who was also in the room with them. "Can you be more precise? She seemed quite stoic about it all when I visited her."

The Doctor sighed in frustration. "It's more than that. She's becoming withdrawn…"

"Can you blame her Doctor?" Chakotay interjected sharply, "It's like losing the Collective all over again for her, now her world is even more silent and lonely. Could you accept losing one of your senses in ten days?"

"No, of course not!" The Doctor repudiated hotly. "I'm only pointing out that in my _medical_ opinion she's losing the will to try to speak. She practically said she wasn't willing to allow herself an error. If she takes that attitude to lip-reading she'll never actually engage in conversation out of fear!"

The Captain sighed, "Doctor, you know how she feels about perfection! Of course her self-esteem is low. We'll just need to gently encourage her more."

"I was trying to earlier and she took it the wrong way!" The Doctor exclaimed unhappily.

"You probably antagonised her…" Chakotay muttered under his breath, earning himself a warning glance from the Captain. "We should ask how _we _can make it easier for her, not the other way around." He said more clearly.

The Captain snapped her fingers. "Sign language! She could learn ASL or one of the other Earth sign languages!"

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "You want her to stop talking? Captain, she's still an excellent candidate for lip-reading, even if her Borg upbringing means that context may be sometimes difficult for her…"

"I'm not saying she give up lip-reading Doctor." The Captain interrupted sharply, "Sign languages are just as full and rich as spoken ones. They could offer her freedom and ease that lip-reading just can't, and if we speak as we sign to begin with, although the grammar can differ, she'll attach meaning to lip movements much easier."

The Doctor nodded, "I see your point completely Captain, I had actually thought of it already but thought that Seven wouldn't like to be singled out in such a manner. She's expressed a desire to be treated as she was before her deafness."

"But we're not treating her as before. If we were, she'd be included in this conversation." Chakotay pointed out, his voice thick with emotion.

The Captain sighed and rubbed at her forehead as she took a gulp of her now cold coffee. "I think that's enough for now. You're both dismissed." The Doctor nodded unhappily and left but Janeway noticed that Chakotay still hovered. "What is it Commander?"

"Kathryn, you know ASL don't you?" he asked quietly.

"I was quite fluent at one point yes, but I'm very rusty. I haven't actually used it since I left the Academy." The Captain replied. "Why?"

"Would you mind teaching me a few phrases?" he requested.

"Of course not. That's very thoughtful of you."

* * *

><p>Chakotay walked into the Cargo Bay an hour or so later to find Seven hunched over something nearer the back of the room, standing directly under a light. Curious despite himself, he stepped closer and could now hear her speaking, "The plasma conduits are overheating. The bio-gel packs require rewiring. Activate Astrometrics sensors." He could now see what she was doing, watching her own lips in a hand mirror as she spoke. He couldn't help but smile a little, it was so like Seven to learn work related terms first, but his heart squeezed as he saw her haunted, strained expression and utterly exhausted posture. He rarely seen her look worse. In a moment of unthinking compassion, he reached out and squeezed her arm gently.<p>

He knew his mistake immediately. Her whole body jumped violently in shock and fright, her voice changing to a choked and panicky shriek. When her huge blue eyes finally saw him she gasped, a tinge of embarrassment entering her chalk white cheeks as she gasped to try and slow her thudding heart. "Chakotay…you…you scared me." She mumbled brokenly, fighting back tears which suddenly sprang to her eyes.

"I know. I'm sorry." He replied. She could see the anguish and horrible guilt that filled his handsome face and intensely dark eyes as she read his lips. She found him easier to read than anyone else, perhaps because of the natural clarity of his speech patterns, or because she'd spent longer studying his face and its variances than anyone else's. The loose fist of his dominant hand now formed repetitive small circles on the centre of his chest, something she remembered as meaning "sorry".

Chakotay gulped nervously as he watched her stiffen in surprise. "American Sign Language?" she asked tersely.

"Yes." Chakotay replied, repeating it in sign, several small flicks of a closed fist, almost like knocking motions. "_YES_." Then he continued, signing in tandem with speech, "_YOU KNOW ASL?"_ He added "already" onto his spoken sentence, he certainly didn't know how to sign that yet.

Her lips pursed uneasily. "Icheb has investigated it. He does not believe I will be able to learn to lip-read Brunali, it's a multi-tonal language. "

Chakotay smiled at that, he should have guessed Icheb would've been way ahead of him. "_GOOD_."

Seven shook her head. "Stop it! You're under no obligation to me! I will adapt, my lip-reading will become better. You need not adapt for my sake."

Chakotay felt his frustration bubble over and he spoke without thinking about whether she would understand. "You're being stubborn and making life more difficult for yourself for nothing!"

Seven didn't get all of the exact words, but "stubborn" and his exasperated expression gave her enough to retort. "You _don't _understand…" She began in angered tearfulness.

He seized her hands and pulled her close. "I'm trying to." He murmured, feeling guilty for shouting at her. Quickly he picked up a PADD and wrote down what he fully wanted to tell her. She took it wordlessly and read it slowly, "You've always adapted for us without fail, let _me _try to adapt to you for once."

Seven stared down at his words for a long time before lifting her head again, her face now stained with a single tear. Taking a deep breath, she slowly signed, "_THANK YOU_."

**A/n: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D I hope you still like it!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: Thanks again for all the support so far for this story everyone! :D Once again ASL is written in **_ITALIC CAPITALS_. **Finger-spelling has hyphens between the letters, e.g. **_V-O-Y-A-G-E-R_**. **

"You wished to see me Captain?" Seven asked politely as she entered Janeway's ready room and took her habitual position directly in front of the Captain's desk, hands held neatly behind her back.

She saw the Captain's lips move quickly into a "Yes" before she lifted her head up from the stack of PADDs she'd obviously been absorbed in and moved her gaze up to Seven's face as her hands shifted fluidly into ASL, the shapes of her hands changing almost as rapidly as her lips speaking in tandem. "_THE DOCTOR TOLD ME YOU'RE LEARNING ASL_?"

Seven nodded warily, still processing both her lip movements and attaching them to the signs. Someone using both really did help to develop her lip-reading, even though sign order and word order were often completely different, but even with her enhanced memory she was as yet far from fluent. "He is correct Captain, I am." She answered, sighing slightly as she continued, "Although my progression into fluency is…gradual." She admitted.

The Captain nodded in understanding, "_I'LL SLOW DOWN_." She agreed calmly before continuing, "_I THINK IT WILL BE GREAT FOR YOU_." She signed the word "great", two hands directly in front of the body with palms facing outwards than then move down, with particular enthusiasm and a smile. Seven could see the relief in it and tried not to feel hurt, the Captain had obviously doubted her ability to adapt. "_MAYBE THE WHOLE CREW CAN LEARN_…" She began but Seven hurriedly interrupted her, wincing.

"I'd much prefer that it was voluntary Captain. I do not wish to force the entire crew into an obligation." Seven said, a little more sharply than she'd intended. She did _try _to appreciate what was being suggested in an attempt to help her adapt as successfully as possible to her deafness, but the last thing she wanted was to emphasise another difference between her and the crew; many of whom she barely knew and who only tolerated her out of respect to their senior officers.

The Captain's expression became dismissive. Seven saw the word "nonsense" flicker across her lips before she signed again, "_IT WILL DO THEM GOOD_."

"Perhaps." Seven mumbled doubtfully, checking the Captain's face to see if she'd heard that, but Janeway had turned away from her to walk to the replicator so she couldn't tell. Bracing herself for a confrontation, she cleared her throat and asked a question that had been building up within her for days, "Captain, when can I resume working my regular shifts? My medical condition has stabilised, the Doctor as confirmed it will not get any worse…" She swallowed the small lump that rose in her throat, "…or better. I would like to return to my work in Astrometrics and on the Bridge. I know adjustments will have to be made, but…"

The Captain's face was tense as she hurriedly turned back to face her. There were long pauses between her words, as if she were considering what to say. Therefore, Seven knew her request was being denied even without being able to lip-read the full sentence clearly. Her heart twisted painfully inside her chest, what if she was never going to be allowed to work as she had before? The Captain, judging that Seven's expression was one of incomprehension rather than the desolate disappointment and fear it truly was, repeated the gist of what she'd just said in sign, "_IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA RIGHT NOW. GIVE YOURSELF MORE TIME_."

"Captain, I…" Seven started to argue but was cut off when the Captain hurriedly pressed a finger to her lips, asking for silence, and indicated her comm. badge. Seven watched as the Captain had a quick exchange with Harry over the comm. line; she knew it was Harry because the Captain had helpfully said his name as she'd answered. She frowned as she gathered that an alien ship nearby, asking to trade. She sighed in frustration when she couldn't interpret the species' name and knew she'd have to rely on someone or other either writing it down or finger-spelling it out as best they could if she was ever to find out. So much for a sense of independence.

Finally the Captain finished and turned back to her, "Do you know…" She again said the name Seven couldn't read and signed a quick "_SORRY_" when she realised Seven hadn't got the crux of the question. "_DO YOU KNOW…"_ She paused, obviously pondering how to finger-spell an unfamiliar word, "_Z-E-P-H-E-L-L-I-A-N-S_?" she spelled out uncertainly.

Seven nodded firmly. "Species 3412, the Zephellians, yes I know of them." She guessed the Captain's next question before she said it, "They are moderately trustworthy…" She said cautiously, "Their society's aims and structure are relatively similar to those of the Ferengi."

The Captain visibly deflated; her face instantly pensive. "Like the Ferengi?" she repeated before saying something into her comm. badge, gesturing in exasperation as she walked back out onto the Bridge with Seven just behind.

Seven knew she'd been forgotten as she watched the Captain stride over to her chair, her attention already fixated on the rather ugly and conniving face of the Zephellian on the viewscreen. Knowing she'd get only a one-sided part of the conversation at best, she breathed a small sigh before turning to head towards the Bridge's turbolift, but at that moment Chakotay spotted her, rising out of his seat and discreetly signing to her, "_ARE YOU OKAY_?"

Seven smiled weakly in response, hoping to remove the look of warm concern that haunted his dark eyes; being a burden to him or anyone else was the last thing she wanted. Quickly, without waiting for him to approach and see through her flimsy shield, she bowed her head and walked purposefully into the turbolift.

Chakotay couldn't help but keep one eye on her until the turbolift doors had closed, then he had to reluctantly turn his attention back to the Captain had her negotiating skills with a sigh of unease.

* * *

><p>"Just go and check the plasma filters again Vorik. I know you've already done it and it's perhaps not the most <em>logical <em>thing to do but we're better safe than sorry if we want to find out what's causing all these problems with the manifolds." B'Elanna Torres told her Vulcan crewmate in as controlled a tone as possible, considering she was on her knees trying to contort her heavily pregnant body into a Jefferies tube to try to solve the problem herself.

"But Lieutenant, it would be more logical for me to work with the warp core itself and…" Vorik began in that infuriatingly monotone voice of his.

B'Elanna felt a Klingon growl worthy of her mother rumble in her throat but a soft chuckle behind her lowered her hackles. "I think it would be logical for you to do what Lieutenant Torres asks of you Ensign."

"Of course Commander." Vorik replied stoically and promptly headed for the plasma filters without another word of complaint.

B'Elanna hurriedly pulled herself free from the Jefferies tube, standing up and brushing her uniform down, raising her eyebrows at Chakotay in amusement. "Thanks for using a little of your First Officer pull there Chakotay."

"No problem." Chakotay replied good-naturedly.

"What brings you down here anyway? I thought you were on Bridge duty this afternoon?" B'Elanna asked curiously. It was a rare thing to see Chakotay down in Engineering nowadays, not that she blamed him, commanding Voyager seemed to get more time-consuming everyday.

"I am. The Captain sent me down here to see if we can spare 250kg of deuterium to trade with our new Zephellian friends." He allowed himself to lace the word "friends" with a little wary sarcasm.

B'Elanna snorted, "She's kidding right? We've got barely 800kg left for ourselves! What can they possibly have that's worth all that?"

Chakotay shook his head. "No joke. Apparently they've got some new propulsion system they'd like to offer us; they say it could cut a few years off our journey."

"I assume they don't have specifications I can see?" B'Elanna asked, sighed when he shook his head. "I can _maybe_ scrounge up 100kg, but that's all!"

"Great." Chakotay replied with a smile, "They seem to like bartering anyway. What problems are you having down here?"

"The plasma manifolds aren't going and I can't find the reason why! It's like searching for a needle in a damned haystack!" B'Elanna answered; glad to finally have someone to vent her frustration to.

Chakotay's brow furrowed thoughtfully, "Have you asked Seven for help?"

B'Elanna's face became apprehensive, "Isn't she still on medical leave? It's not even been three weeks…"

"I'm pretty sure she's willing to work." Chakotay interrupted, "In fact, I think it would be the best thing for her right now."

"I really could use her help…" B'Elanna admitted quietly. "Can she understand what's being said now?"

"Her lip-reading is getting better everyday; just make sure you don't lapse into Klingon." Chakotay assured her before touching her arm, "Don't tell her I sent you, please?"

B'Elanna nodded, "I'm asking her for help, it's nothing to do with you really Chakotay." She replied with a smile.

* * *

><p>A new shaft of light spreading across the Cargo Bay's floor alerted Seven to the open door and she lifted her head from the console to see Lieutenant Torres standing in the threshold. Hiding her surprise, she greeted her politely, "Good afternoon Lieutenant."<p>

It took B'Elanna longer than normal to reply, Seven's appearance had shocked her. The normally unruffled Borg looked exhausted, as if she hadn't rested, either by regeneration or sleep, for days. Her eyes, fixed intently on her face, which B'Elanna certainly wasn't used to, appeared badly strained, the human one even a little bloodshot. B'Elanna supposed it was no wonder considering how suddenly she'd been robbed of her hearing and become completely dependant on her vision, but it made her wonder if Chakotay had been wrong to recommend work for the former Borg drone. "Hi Seven." She replied shortly, hoping that helped the lip-reading.

Seven nodded in acknowledgement, "What can I do for you Lieutenant?" B'Elanna paused for a minute before launching into an explanation which she tried to follow as best she could, "A problem in Engineering?" she cautiously asked for confirmation, still nervous of getting it wrong and making a fool of herself. "With the plasma system?" B'Elanna nodded vigorously and began to speak again but feeling a headache forming, Seven passed her a PADD, "Please write down the problem and I will tell you whether I can assist." B'Elanna gladly did so and Seven swiftly read it, "With the problems you describe I believe I know of a way to correct it."

B'Elanna's in reply was one of relief, "Let's go then."

* * *

><p>B'Elanna observed many people stiffen in shock as they saw her enter Engineering with Seven and instinctively prepared herself for a confrontation as the biggest blowhard in Engineering, Lieutenant Kelly, stalked towards them, chest puffed out self-righteously. "What's that <em>drone<em> doing back in here Lieutenant?" he asked tersely, eyeing Seven with wary anger.

"She told me she knew how to fix the plasma manifolds." B'Elanna replied coolly.

"We can figure that out by ourselves!" Kelly retorted hotly, "Why are you letting her back in here? Now that she's as deaf as a doornail there's an excuse to keep that Borg in her Cargo Bay where she belongs!"

Seven bit down on her lip until she could taste blood seeping into her mouth. She couldn't know his words precisely but she got enough to know they were derogatory; the hatred burning from his eyes had to be spewing from his lips also. She also knew that B'Elanna had shifted into Klingon to reply, since none of her lip movements were discernable as English.

"Kelly, shut up right now and I'll rule out having you demoted down to crewman…" B'Elanna began through gritted teeth.

"Why? She can't hear what I'm saying." Kelly muttered dismissively before moving uncomfortably close to Seven and speaking very slowly, "Hello…I'm…Lieutenant…Kelly…"

Seven glared down at him, glad that in her heels she was at least five centimetres taller than her tormentor. "I could _see _what you were saying Lieutenant. I do not need to be able to hear to be able to tell when someone is insulting me. You're actually easier to read when you're not distorting your speech like a patronising imbecile. I doubt I listened to you when I could hear."

"No, I don't listen either." B'Elanna agreed, addressing Kelly rather than Seven. "If you're going to act like such a bigot again I'll make sure you learn to regret it during your stint in the Brig. Is that clear?"

Kelly began to back down rapidly when he saw that all of his previously ambivalent colleagues were now glaring at him in disgust. "Yes ma'am." He muttered reluctantly before scurrying back to his console.

B'Elanna sighed in frustration and looked over at Seven sympathetically when she saw the other woman was shivering and pale. Touching her arm to get her attention, she said, "Don't worry about him, I'll tell…"

"You will tell no one!" Seven cut in sharply, gulping as B'Elanna stared at her, "Do nothing more, please Lieutenant?"

"Alright." B'Elanna agreed reluctantly, "But remember that people like that are just assholes, okay?"

A thin smile of gratitude formed on Seven's lips as she understood B'Elanna's words. "I'll remember." She assured her quietly, wishing she could really assure herself.

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n: As always, ASL is written as **_ITALIC CAPITALS _**and finger-spelling is defined by hyphens. Please enjoy and review! :D**

Seven tensed as she saw a shadow loom over the console she had been focused on since returning from Engineering, she'd been dreading the Captain or the Doctor finding out about her earlier confrontation with Lieutenant Kelly. As well meaning as their intervention might be, in all honesty she just wanted to forget about it, or at least not discuss it. She couldn't stop a gasp of relieved surprise leaving her throat as she saw that it was Chakotay who stood in front of her, casting the aforementioned shadow. He flashed an apologetic smile which revealed his dimples as she met his eye, his lips moving quickly, "Am I late?"

"Late?" Seven repeated cautiously, quite certain of what he had said but unsure of what he was referring to.

"Yeah, for my ASL practice, remember?" he prompted gently before gesturing to her work on the console, "It's okay if you're too busy…"

"On the contrary, I am far from busy." She interrupted him hurriedly, then saw his eyebrows rise as he read the console's screen, "I was just arranging some schoolwork for Icheb, I fear I've been neglecting him lately…" She explained.

"_NO_." Chakotay signed firmly, a rapid single movement of bringing the tip of his thumb and the tips of index and middle fingers together, "_HE UNDERSTANDS." _He continued emphatically, before asking in a more relaxed, curious manner,_ "IS HE STILL LEARNING ASL?_"

Seven smiled at him gratefully before answering in speech, "Oh yes, he is impressively dedicated about it, I'm quite sure he's more fluent than either of us at the moment."

Chakotay laughed, "I'm not surprised!" His face took on a more serious expression as he moved around the console to come closer to her, "Why don't we just sign rather than talk for now?"

Seven frowned in confusion, "But _you_ can hear me speaking."

Discomfiture flickered across his face for a moment. "That's not the point. I'll learn better if you respond to me in sign."

A teasing glint entered Seven's eyes as she signed quickly in reply, "_OKAY, I WON'T SPEAK AT ALL WHILE WE'RE LEARNING."_

Chakotay's shoulders sagged slightly as she finished, the frown of concentration still fixed on his face. "Okay, maybe you can talk a little." He admitted sheepishly.

Seven laughed, startled as she realised it was probably the first time she'd really laughed since losing her hearing. "Only if you speak as you sign, it improves my lip-reading."

Chakotay grinned in agreement, "_DEAL_."

* * *

><p>Some time later, they sat across from each other between two cargo containers on the blanket Seven had received as a gift from the Ventu, talking animatedly in a diverse mixture of speech and sign. During a gap in the conversation, Chakotay got Seven's attention then signed, "<em>YOU WERE RIGHT."<em>

"_ABOUT WHAT_?" Seven asked quizzically.

He took a deep breath and launched into sign, "_THE Z-E-Q…" _Seven frowned at him in confusion, causing him to stop awkwardly, "What?"

"You're talking about the Zephellians?" she asked, a small wry smile passing over her face as he nodded, "You were spelling it incorrectly, you signed "q" instead of "p", watch me." Slowly she positioned her hand so that her index finger was flicked forward, her middle finger was pulled back, and the rest of her fingers were curled into her palm. "This is "p"." She instructed, before moving her hand so that now her thumb and index finger pointed downwards, "This is "q", what you were doing. Continue."

Chakotay smiled sheepishly in acknowledgement before starting again, "_YOU WERE RIGHT. THE Z-E-P-H-E-L-L-I-A-N-S are like F-E-R-E-N-G-I."_

Seven nodded vigorously, "Yes, very much so. Are you having trouble with them?"

Chakotay shook his head, "The Captain's dealing with them, thankfully I'm not overly involved. What did you talk with her about this morning?"

Seven tried to hide her grimace but saw from his expression that she'd failed. Fearing that her voice might be shaky and thus betray more of her feelings than she wanted it to, she signed instead, "_THE CAPTAIN WANTS ALL OF THE CREW TO LEARN ASL_."

"What's so bad about that?" Chakotay asked, his gentle face flinching when she drew back from him. Deciding to lighten the mood, he changed tact. "_WHAT IS THE SIGN FOR L-O-G-I-C?"_

"Logic?" Seven asked in bemusement before showing him, first making an "L" shape with the index finger and thumb of her left hand, then pressing the thumb lightly against her temple and pulling it away slowly. "That is the sign for "logic", why do you ask?"

"That's one sign Tuvok will need to know if he's going to learn." Chakotay reminded her, beaming in relief when she laughed loudly.

Her mirth soon died down through, her face tense and regretful. "You must find it ironic to learn sign language with me." She commented quietly.

"Why would I?" Chakotay asked, hurt evident on his face.

Seven shifted uncomfortably on the blanket, "I was so dismissive of the Ventu while you were trying to learn their sign language. I told you it was irrelevant. I thought they were inferior."

"This wasn't like that, I was breaking the Prime Directive, remember? You never actually treated them as irrelevant _or _inferior Seven…" He trailed off as he realised she wasn't managing to read his lips and tried again, looking fully into her face and sitting directly under the light, "What is this about? Did someone say something to you in Engineering, something offensive?"

Seven sighed heavily, "Someone questioned my right to be in Engineering. They said that I was now as "deaf as a doornail" in their words and that I shouldn't work on the ship anymore."

Chakotay could see from the pain in her eyes that she was hiding the virulence of the comments from him, not that the "deaf as a doornail" comment she had quoted wasn't enough to get his blood boiling. "They have _no _right to say that to you Seven! Bigots like that should be put in the brig…" He fumed, fists clenching as he fought the protective flame of rage that sparked within him.

"You are not to pursue any form punishment." Seven interrupted sharply, "I am confiding in you as a _friend_, not filing a report to my First Officer!"

Chakotay gritted his teeth for a minute or two to calm himself as he watched her eyes glisten with angry tears. Carefully he leaned forward and squeezed her hands before letting go again to sign, "_ARE YOU HUNGRY?"_

Seven gulped hard, struggling for words as she recollected herself. "I…suppose so, why?"

"Because I am. Let's go get something." He replied. She nodded slowly and took his proffered hand to help her up.

* * *

><p>"Is a salad okay?" Chakotay asked as they entered his quarters, reminding himself just in time to turn back from the replicator to face her before speaking.<p>

"That would be acceptable." Seven murmured as she looked around his quarters, overwhelmed with memories of both her holodeck simulations and their first date, although that had been in the Mess Hall. She noticed how nervous and uptight he seemed as he laid the table and was very aware of her own warm cheeks. "Chakotay…is this a date?" she finally blurted out.

He whirled around to her at those words. "Yes, I suppose it is. I'm overdue in asking I know, our first was weeks ago but…" He swallowed, "It's only if you want to date Seven." He assured her quietly.

"I do. I suppose I just thought…" She blinked back tears that formed behind her lids, "…that you wouldn't ask me again."

He was beside her again in one long stride, his face so close to her bowed head she could feel his breath on her neck. "Listen…" He cringed and tilted her chin up, to be sure she was looking at him, "Nothing _important_ to me has changed. We're still the same people…with the same feelings."

Seven stared at him for so long he was beginning to worry that she hadn't read his lips clearly enough, but that fear disappeared as she suddenly leaned further into him and kissed him softly on the lips.

Seven was so surprised when he responded warmly and eagerly that she had to hold in a gasp of shock and pleasure, but it escaped as fear when a sudden jerk of the floor beneath them wrenched them unwillingly apart. "What's happening?" she choked out breathlessly as the ship shuddered once again.

"The Red Alert alarm is going off!" Chakotay explained hurriedly, "We have to get to the Bridge…"

Seven didn't get his last sentence as she had already turned to the doorway at the mention of a Red Alert. "Let's go!"

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: I'm sorry my updating has been erratic lately, I'm pretty busy studying for three different assessments in the next couple of weeks, and that means more homework! Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter and hopefully I'll be able to update something tomorrow too.**

The flashing alarm beacons, casting an angry red light over the hallway, confirmed to Seven what was happening as she rushed from Chakotay's quarters, Voyager was in a state of emergency. The floor suddenly rolled out from beneath her, the bone-shaking shudder that accompanied it convinced her that Voyager was being repeatedly struck by heavy weaponry but she had little time to consider why as she struggled to stay upright. Crewman Walker, frantically running towards the turbolift, wasn't so careful and skidded violently across the precariously tilted floor. Only the tight grasp of a pair of hands on her shoulders pulling her aside prevented Seven from colliding with Walker and crashing against a bulkhead. As it was, she breathlessly turned around to see that her rescuer was, predictably, Chakotay. "We're under attack! What should we do?" she asked, pressing herself against a wall as another shot hit the ship. She knew from the vibration through the wall and the grimace on Chakotay's face, that it was much closer to them this time.

His lip movements were huge, exaggerated. Seven realised that he must be shouting, she could still remember the shrill shrieks of the red alert and knew he'd be in pain from the exposure and straining to hear. For once, she thought wryly, her complete insulation from sound was a slight benefit. "What?" His lips shouted again as he hit his comm. badge desperately, "An attack…"

She couldn't understand any more of his speech as he directed it down the comm. line, but she could see the news was bad as his already pale face drained completely of colour and his jaw clenched grimly. "What can we do to assist?" she questioned determinedly, patting him on the arm to get him to look at her.

"We're under attack. The Zephellians are trying to get us to jettison the warp core so they can steal it." Chakotay explained as clearly as he could, feeling relieved when he saw her nod in comprehension. "I'd better get to the Bridge; I can't get through to them by comm. so I don't know what's going on…" The anxious blare of his comm. badge gave him hope and he tapped it so hard it hurt his chest. "Captain, what's going on up there?"

"This…is B'Elanna." B'Elanna's voice replied, broken up by crackling interference. Chakotay's blood chilled as he heard the undeniable fear in his old friend's voice, it took a lot to push her to that point. "The warp is in…meltdown. I…need…all the hands I can get to…save…" Her voice was cut off with a sinister abruptness that made Chakotay shiver as he looked into Seven's blue eyes, which were pinched with dread and fear.

"I need to go and help B'Elanna in Engineering; it sounds like hell down there." He muttered to her tersely, "You stay here and wait until…"

Seven's eyes narrowed in disbelief, her gut twisting in frustration as certainty of what he'd said sunk in. "I cannot stay here when my help is needed elsewhere!" she exclaimed, growing angry as his gaze became worried and doubtful. "My personal difficulties are irrelevant right now, the safety of the entire ship must be considered first." She stated firmly as he put a pleading hand on her arm which she quickly removed, turning away from him and sprinting towards the turbolift which would take her to Engineering.

He had been silenced by her the logic in her argument at first, but Chakotay's horror flooded back as he watched her disappear around the corner. "Seven, it's too dangerous!" he shouted after her, cursing her stubbornness as he remembered she couldn't hear his rebuke. He knew in the back of his mind that his duty was to be on the Bridge, but his indecisiveness only lasted a matter of seconds before he ran after her towards Engineering.

* * *

><p>The Engineering Seven walked into was an inferno. Acrid smoke swirled around her, clogging her lungs and obscuring her vision until all she could make out as a reference point was the cylindrical column that was the warp core. For a moment she was frozen to the spot, utterly transfixed as smoke climbed with a macabre elegance up the warp core's casing, which radiated a blinding orange glow as it melted. It was the sight of the warp reaction, normally a relatively serene and reassuring electric blue, as a mottled purple, golden sparks flaring around within, which shocked her into movement. The warp core was in meltdown! Forgetting her unique vulnerability, she plunged headlong into the smoke, ignoring the sting in her eyes as she searched desperately for a console to tell her exactly what was going on. B'Elanna, almost unrecognisable from the dust that covered her face, seemed to appear out of thin air beside her, hunched over as her frame rattled with violent coughing. Seven dragged her away from the decimated pieces of technology which she could now see as the smoke shifted. "Lieutenant, you should not be in here! Your baby…"<p>

B'Elanna stiffened, her arms clenching unconsciously around her belly, but her lips spat out a retort even as Seven saw sickening fear cross her features. "I'm still the Chief of Engineering…" She halted, her chest heaving for air, before pushing Seven against a console and pointing frantically to certain readings, explanations speeding over her lips at such a rate that they were useless to Seven, who instead focused on the data to guide her. "The warp plasma conduits are buckling…" She murmured in dread, watching for B'Elanna's grim nod as she struggled to come up with a solution. "If the plasma could be forcibly rerouted through the undamaged one in sector 39.2, then the warp core may be stabilised for long enough to get us out of this situation." Seven theorised hurriedly.

B'Elanna nodded repeatedly in agreement, all Seven could get of her words was "Yes, Yes…" before the Lieutenant twisted around to head towards Jefferies Tube 39.

"I will go!" Seven snapped at her, stopping the heavily pregnant woman with one arm just as she saw another console light up with an explosion and a young ensign was thrown in her path, out cold and badly burned. Adrenaline blinded Seven to this horrific sight and she robotically snatched up the ensign's repair kit, stepping over the limp body and running once more into the smoke.

* * *

><p>Chakotay forced his way into the burning hell that was Engineering at that moment and gasped in relief as he saw B'Elanna, buckled over a console and obviously still trying to salvage the situation. "Report!" he yelled over the din as he reached her.<p>

"Shields down 60%, 70% in Engineering!" she yelled back, "No communications with the Bridge, we have to stop this onslaught _now _Chakotay or we're done!"

"What about the warp core?" he asked urgently as he dialled in his command codes to help her with the more extreme procedures.

"It's going into meltdown! If we don't stabilise it within the next few minutes then we'll have to jettison it to save the ship, just as those Zephellians intended!" she replied, her eyes fixed on the warp core. "Seven went into one of the Jefferies Tubes to try to stabilise the warp plasma and prevent that, but…"

"You sent her into that?" Chakotay raged, "In there she'll be blind as well as deaf, it's a death sentence…"

"I couldn't stop her!" B'Elanna retorted, "And besides, if she fails we're all dead anyway!"

* * *

><p>It took less than a minute for Seven to find the correct Jefferies Tube and scramble inside, dragging the repair kit in after her before she shut the hatch to block out the encroaching fire. Crawling through the darkened space on her hands and knees, straining her eyes to adapt to the emergency strip lighting, she counted the panels until she was sure she had to be close to the correct one. Cruelly, that moment of relief was the moment another weapon strike hit nearby. The force of the tube folding downwards, as if it were being squeezed from the outside by two godly hands, sent Seven sprawling over the floor, her vision going white at the corners as she fought unconsciousness seeping from the crack forming in her skull. When her wits returned, she almost wished they hadn't. She was in pitch blackness and for a terrifying split second she thought she was dead, such was the lack of sensory information in this black, silent chasm in which she found herself. Only the trickling sensation of blood running down her forehead made her certain she was still alive, but that did not comfort her any. She was nauseated by fear, helplessness paralysing her. This tube would be her coffin, she thought morbidly as claustrophobia closed in, her heart ricocheting off the walls of her chest as she fought to control her rampant fears. I'm only a few metres from the panel, the blast didn't throw me far, she convinced herself before slowly reaching out and feeling tentatively along the walls of the tube. Yes! Her fingers found the grooves of the panel she'd been looking for and she inched herself forward again, gasping in relief as the panel lit up, giving her back a modicum of vision. Gritting her teeth, she felt around behind her for the repair kit, dragged it as close to her as she could, and set to work.<p>

* * *

><p>"The warp core will enter meltdown in two minutes, 31 seconds…" The Computer intoned just as Chakotay felt the impulse engines B'Elanna had been working on surge with power. "Good work!" he told her in relief as the bombardment suddenly stopped.<p>

"Tom obviously put space between us and them." B'Elanna agreed, almost laughing and crying all at once as she realised they might make it out of this.

"Chakotay, this is the Captain. The Zephellians are gone, what about the warp core?"

"We're working on it Captain…" Chakotay replied, feeling sick as he thought of Seven, somewhere in the tangled mess that now was Engineering.

"Warp core will enter meltdown in one minute, 54 sec…" The Computer began before abruptly starting again, just as the lighting switched back on in Engineering. "Warp core is now stable."

"My God, whatever Seven did down there must've worked. My solution wasn't ready…" B'Elanna muttered in disbelief.

"Where is she?" Chakotay snapped fearfully, running forward in the direction B'Elanna pointed before she could stop him.

In a burst of strength he managed to kick in the hatch, which was sickeningly buckled like a concertina. Squeezing his tall, broad frame in through the now miniscule space, he grasped Seven's body unthinkingly and pulled her out in one go. Seven's panic writhen scream echoed through Engineering, bringing the crewmembers who weren't already in Sickbay running.

"Chakotay!" Seven choked out shrilly, panic and adrenaline still pumping through her veins to such an extent that she couldn't help overreacting to the fright of being seized and dragged out of her little hole by unknown arms, she'd thought that it was the Zephellians boarding. "That was unnecessary, I am fine…" She began tightly as she tried to slow her breath down and regain rational thought.

"You could've gotten yourself _killed_!" he shouted into her blood streaked face, utterly irate, all the gut wrenching fear and anxiety of the last few minutes pouring out of him. "What the _hell _did you think you were doing?"

Seven gulped as she forced her brain back into lip-reading mode. "I was doing what I could to save the warp core!"

She saw his face contort into an angry snort, "You might not be so lucky next time! You just can't be doing reckless things like that any more! You might not like to admit it but things _have _changed for you whether you like it or not!"

Seven flinched as if she'd been slapped, all the fear of the last few minutes and the resentment and feelings of inadequacy from the last few weeks of deafness bubbled up within her and exploded out, "What happened to nothing important has changed?" she hissed tearfully at him, wrenching her arm fear as his face fell in hurt and realisation, and then fleeing Engineering.

**A/n: Oh, angst! I hope this is okay and that no one's out of character. PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/n: Thanks to Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay for updating "Far From Home" and to xXBrightsideBumblebeeXx for publishing a re-edit of her C/7 story "Shreds and Shards". I'm also grateful to Juddysbuddy for giving me some ideas for this chapter.**

Chakotay stared at the door Seven had just fled through, an intoxicating mix of guilt, anger and hurt flooding him until he could no longer bear to look at the closed door, instead focusing on the hand she'd pushed away, what had he just done?

B'Elanna's hand coming to rest worriedly on his shoulder, making him jump a little before he forced himself to meet her concerned eyes. "What was all _that _about?" she asked tersely.

Chakotay felt his chest release a breath for the first time since Seven had left, it whistled anxiously through his teeth as he said brokenly, "I screwed up…" He cut himself off hastily as he saw his old friend frown, "I overreacted, let my anxieties about this whole situation affect my judgement…"

B'Elanna gave a small snort of disbelief. "It wasn't the situation that upset you so badly Chakotay; it was that _Seven _was in that situation." She replied bluntly, her face softening as his wince confirmed her words, "You lost your temper with her Chakotay, don't you think I've known you long enough to know when you're in deep?" She sighed through her careful smile, "How long have you had feelings for her? Before she became deaf?"

Chakotay's eyes flashed at her, his whole body tensing in offence. "You think I treat her this way out of pity?" he snapped at her incredulously.

B'Elanna laughed under her breath, "Pity? No, worry and protectiveness more like, and besides Tom told me about the two of you and your flirting session on the shuttle before the accident."

Chakotay smiled fondly at the memory before glancing worriedly back at his friend as she knelt to fix a smoking console. "Do you think she sees it like that? Just as me being overprotective? I _never _want her to think that I don't value her as much as before…"

"Chakotay, you just yelled at her for saving the ship, which was a "screw up" as you said, I'd be angry with you too if I were her. Just give her some time to cool down…"

The synchronised beeps of both their comm. badges interrupted her, the Captain's relieved but exhausted voice echoing through, "Stand down Red Alert. All senior officers please report to the Briefing Room."

"I guess we'll both have plenty of time plenty of time to cool down." Chakotay remarked to B'Elanna as he reluctantly put duty first by tapping his comm. badge in order to reply, "B'Elanna and I will be right there Captain."

* * *

><p>Seven grimaced painfully as a bright light insistently burned at her eyes, making her head throb even more. Slowly, as her eyes adjusted, she realised she was lying in Sickbay with the Doctor looming over her, his expression hardened with disapproval as he scanned her with a tricorder, his lips moving in small, unreadable movements she interpreted as agitated muttering. "What happened?" she mumbled in confusion as he lowered the tricorder, the last thing she could remember was running away from Chakotay, her eyes blurring with tears…<p>

"_ENSIGN ANDERSON FOUND YOU COLLAPSED IN A TURBOLIFT_." The Doctor signed slowly in explanation, "_I'VE TREATED YOUR SKULL FRACTURE BUT YOU STILL HAVE A CONCUSSION_."

Seven nodded hastily as she sat up, inhaling sharply as she saw the many injured spread around the room, their bodies limp and useless and their faces so contorted with pain that she didn't need to be able to hear to know that they were most likely groaning in agony. "Thank you Doctor, I'll leave you to your more urgent cases." She replied gratefully, yet feeling a little ashamed by her faint in the turbolift when there were so many grievously people around her.

"_YOU WERE VERY LUCKY."_ The Doctor responded. The emphasis which he placed on the sign for "very", a lacing of the fingers in front of the chest before being pulled apart, made her wince, thinking of the close call in Engineering.

"We were all lucky." She replied tensely, swallowing a lump in her throat when she thought of Chakotay's panic as he'd dragged her away from the Jefferies Tube, he hadn't trusted luck.

She watched the Doctor's lips with just enough attentiveness as he helped her off the biobed to see him say, "I don't know what the Commander and Lieutenant Torres were thinking, keeping you down there in your condition…"

She was too angry to bother trying to interpret the rest of his sentence, emotional wounds still bleeding from Chakotay's harsh words earlier making her eyes flash in rage. "It was my own decision to help Doctor!"

The Doctor's mouth dropped open in shock for a moment before it formed the exaggerated movements of an exclamation, "Keep your voice down Seven! All I said was that it was dangerous!"

"It's dangerous for _everyone_!" Seven retorted hotly, "Would you prefer…" She halted, colour flooding her face as she caught several patients looking at her with fear-widened eyes, she doubted many of them knew how close they'd come to dying in a warp core meltdown. She settled for the more private, but equally expressive, method of signing to continue, "_IF I HAD NOT ASSISTED, YOU WOULD HAVE MANY MORE PATIENTS TO ATTEND TO!_" she finished, glaring at him as he visibly reeled from her outburst.

He seemed to struggle to recollect himself, and he sighed heavily before saying hurriedly, stiffly regretful, "Go and regenerate, you'll feel better."

"Gladly." Seven whispered sharply as she made her way out of Sickbay as rapidly as she could.

* * *

><p>The solitude of the Cargo Bay did not offer the comfort and reassurance Seven so desperately sought. In fact, standing alone in its cavernous confines, more like a Borg Cube than anywhere else on the ship, put things into painful perspective for her as she tried and failed to regenerate. It was a possibility now that after her recklessness, she was quite sure of the Captain seeing her actions as that, she might be demoted to data interpretation for the rest of the trip back to Earth, just to save her from the harm they now obviously perceived her as more susceptible to. This thought of course filled her with resentment, but her main preoccupation was that Chakotay had not come to her. She pushed him away, rejected his intense emotions and had been equally unstable herself. She knew as she stepped into her alcove for another attempt at regeneration, that he might decide she wasn't worth the effort.<p>

* * *

><p>"So it's decided, we'll carry on at a maximum of Warp Two until the plasma manifolds are fully stabilised." The Captain concluded as she heard the last of her officers' status reports, "And Tom…" she added, glancing over at her pilot to her left, "Avoid Zephellian territory at all costs."<p>

"With pleasure Captain." Tom replied, flashing her a slightly more subdued version of his characteristic jovial grin.

"Good then, you're…" The Captain began to dismiss them but stopped as the Doctor shuffled tiredly into the Briefing Room. "How many casualties Doctor?"

"27 major injuries, 39 minor Captain, none life-threatening." The Doctor replied calmly.

"Thank God." The Captain murmured before turning her attention to the issue at the back of her mind. "How's Seven?"

"I sent her to the Cargo Bay to regenerate after treating her injuries." The Doctor replied coolly, noticing out of the corner of his eye how much Commander Chakotay's complexion paled at the word "injuries". "Captain…" He started after taking a fortifying breath, "I don't think we can avoid reassessing Seven's duties for a more permanent basis, I believe this uncertainty as to her new role on the ship put her in danger tonight."

The Captain heaved an unhappy, resigned sigh. "I know Doctor." She agreed quietly before studying the pensive faces around her. "I think we need to come to a conclusion about what we consider s her correct role on board."

"Why should it change?" Chakotay asked in a challenging tone, his voice thick with guilt, "She's just as capable as she was before…" He swallowed hard, "She proved that tonight."

Janeway arched her eyebrows in his direction, her tone slightly bemused. "I don't understand Commander, from what I gathered _you_ were very concerned for her, even angered by her actions. Don't you consider her deafness an unacceptable vulnerability in certain situations?"

Chakotay lowered his gaze from her direct one as he thought out a measured answer. "It is, but was wrong to be angry with her. We can't put our desires to keep her safe in the way of her happiness."

Janeway's fists curled in slightly as she replied tightly, "I'm not saying that we have to, I'm just saying that she has to adapt…"

Tuvok cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Then it would be our logical course of action to help her to adapt. Seven of Nine's knowledge and ingenuity is too big an asset for us to lose because we refuse to change our way of thinking."

The Vulcan's argument sunk in for a moment before Harry cautiously raised his hand. "We could at least rig up a new comm. badge that vibrates so that she knows when someone is approaching her…"

"I can go one better than that, I can make up a comm. badge that transcribes what we're saying onto words on a monitor, I might be able to link the system into the Computer interface too, so that she doesn't need to be constantly at a console to get new information." B'Elanna interjected enthusiastically.

Janeway smiled proudly at her crew. "Pursue all these avenues as soon as you can, I think we're going to need to make this vessel as deaf-friendly as possible."

* * *

><p>Seven jolted her back painfully against the back of her alcove when she woke the next morning to find Chakotay standing at the foot of the machine. "Chakotay…" She choked out, hoping her voice didn't sound as conflicted as she felt at the sight of him.<p>

Chakotay stepped decisively forward, his dark eyes fixed on her as his hands signed firmly, "_WE NEED TO TALK_."

Dread made Seven's legs shaky; she didn't dare step out of the alcove to his level lest her knees buckle beneath her. "Yes…we do." She conceded quietly.

A weak smile of relief lingered on his face just long enough for Seven's stomach to clench. Did he really think she wouldn't talk to him? "_DID THE CAPTAIN TELL…_" His hands froze in the way they always did when he couldn't think of an appropriate sign and he lapsed apologetically into speech. "Did the Captain tell you about the technology being designed for you?"

Seven nodded hurriedly and forced herself to step down beside him. "Yes, she informed me of the plans last night. They sound…promising."

Chakotay bit his lip at her uncertain tone, although he knew it was better for her not to get her hopes up too much there was still some convincing to be done as to her suitability for active duty. Biting the bullet, he broached the subject he'd come here to confront. "_I'M SORRY._" He excessively repeated the circular movements on his chest as she watched him silently, "_I WAS WRONG."_

Seven twisted her face away awkwardly, "We were both wrong, my impairment could've easily put others in danger and I disobeyed your orders."

Chakotay gently took her arm and pulled her back around to him. "Maybe, but I overreacted and I'm sorry." He whispered, signing again as he tried to get his most important point across, "_I WANTED YOU TO BE SAFE…_" He unconsciously exaggerated the sign for "safe", crossed arms with open palms which faced the chest before clenching into fists as the arms parted, showing his emotion to Seven more than any lip movement could as continued, in speech now, "…but I forgot for a few frightened minutes that you need to be happy, and wrapping you in cotton wool won't do that, will it?"

Seven shook her head in agreement, although shocked by his frank confession. "No, it won't." She sighed heavily, "I know it is your impulse, everyone's impulse perhaps, to shield me now, but I am not ill and I have adapted to so much already…" She took a deep breath, "I was irrational to snap at you, I know you care for me, but your words hurt me more than the dismissive words of the others. I suppose because I care more for your opinion…" She swallowed hard as her eyes filled with tears, blinking them back rapidly.

Chakotay felt confident enough now to wrap an arm around her back. "I just so scared of losing you. I think I would've reacted like that whether you were hearing or deaf." He admitted thickly.

"You won't lose me…" Seven murmured, tracing a fond finger over his lips as they stopped moving. "Forgive me."

"Of course!" Chakotay replied, hugging her hard, "What can I do to help you forgive me?"

A shy smile played across Seven's lips as she signed something rapidly. "Give me…" Chakotay began to translate, but couldn't get the third, most important sign.

Seven obligingly repeated it more slowly, pressing her thumb against her top fingers in a pinching motion near her mouth and then making it lightly meet the other hand which was in the same position. When he still looked clueless, she gave him a translation by kissing him deeply.

"I'll need to remember that one." Chakotay chuckled as she pulled back before he reciprocated eagerly.

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n: The "Gluttony" chapter of "Seven's Sins" is up. My co-author and I would really appreciate it if you all read and reviewed if you haven't already, thanks! :D**

Even as Astrometrics' scanners revealed a daunting and desolate asteroid field in Voyager's direct flight path, Seven of Nine's good mood didn't waver. She did after all realise, as she explained to the Captain earlier, that this course was still the easier and most efficient route through this sector, with plasma storms or territorial conflicts on either side. This knowledge alone might not have given her particular pleasure, rather resignation, but the fact that she was once again at her proper post in Astrometrics filled her with satisfaction she'd at one point feared she'd never feel again, that of doing productive, interesting, unhindered work. Add to that the dreamy cloud of memories from her evening with Chakotay the night before and Seven couldn't help but be pleased with her day so far.

The vibration of her reconfigured comm. badge dragged her reluctantly from her reverie. Tapping the receiver with one hand and holding the small screen, a new addition, in the other, she spoke, "Seven of Nine here." The tiny comm. screen flashed the name of her hailer in writing, "Lt. Tom Paris." In anticipation of what concerned him, she pulled up a detailed map of the asteroid field on Astrometrics' viewscreen. "I have prepared a proposed flight path as you requested Lieutenant." She reported down the comm. line.

New words flickered across the screen in reply, "Great, I'll just come down and have a quick look."

Seven smirked in amusement as she imagined his tone. "I think it will take more than a "quick look" to interpret this data Lieutenant." She replied. His only response to that, according to her comm. screen, was, "(laughter)". She smiled at that, though couldn't help but feel a prickle of regret that laughter was only an alert on a screen for her now. Despite its somewhat soulless way of reporting conversation, this little device really had proven liberating; she doubted the Captain would've returned her to full duties without it and other such modifications. Part of her even wished she'd always had the luxury of being notified when someone intended to enter Astrometrics, she'd rarely appreciated it when crewmembers just "dropped in", Chakotay excluded of course. Now she was informed beforehand, in order to avoid being startled by someone's sudden presence behind her.

She had just turned around to face the doorway when Tom Paris entered. "Good Morning Lieutenant." She greeted him, her good mood warming her polite address.

"Hi Seven." He replied with a friendly smile, indicating the comm. device still in her hand. "B'Elanna will be glad to know your pager works."

Seven's brow furrowed at the unknown word speeding over his lips. "My what? I don't know that word."

"_DON'T WORRY."_ Tom signed apologetically before adding in speech. "Most people in this century don't." He carefully finger-spelled the word, "_P-A-G-E-R_" and smiled when she nodded, her expression now questioning rather than confused. "It was a comm. device used in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, people sent text messages by them, or they changed speech in words. I saw one in a Smithsonian display once."

"Then it would bear clear comparison to my device." Seven replied in amusement, the image of a young Tom Paris with his face hovering over a display forcefield peering at obsolete technology with childlike glee lingering in her mind. "How is Lieutenant Torres?"

Tom chuckled, "Fine. She's ready to decompile the Doctor if he gives her one more breathing exercise to practise though."

"She may contact me if she needs any assistance with that task." Seven remarked with a wry smile as she turned back to the console.

Tom joined her, grinning widely. "Be careful, she might just take you up on that." He teased as he began to focus on the maps and planetary scans on Astrometrics' viewscreen. "What are we up against today?"

"A large asteroid field. I have proposed what would be the least perilous path through it, but we will still need to avoid the strong gravitational pull certain asteroids exhibit." Seven explained to him as his eyes expertly assessed the trail she'd set out on the map.

He pointed to one particular asteroid situated at a curve in the route. "Can you show me more detailed scans of that one? If the shields can be adapted to suppress the gravity we might not need to take this detour."

"Of course." Seven answered obligingly, but almost as soon as a picture of the planet appeared on the viewscreen she tensed in disbelief, her eyes immediately fixating on the scans fluctuating over her console.

Tom had to tap her hard on the shoulder to get her attention on him again. "What is it?" he asked urgently when her gaze finally concentrated on his face.

"I'm reading…Talaxian lifesigns on this asteroid." She answered him slowly as if uncertain whether to voice her discovery. "Several hundred in fact, it would appear to be a settlement."

"A Talaxian settlement?" Tom repeated, his incredulity obvious in his features. Seven glanced down at her console again momentarily and then nodded firmly. Tom immediately hit his comm. badge; the movement jerky with the excitement Seven was certain would be in his voice as she watched his lips form the words, "Paris to Neelix, I think you'd better come to Astrometrics."

* * *

><p>"Do you think the Captain will agree to assist the Talaxians?" Seven asked Chakotay as they sat down together for lunch in the Mess Hall together later that day.<p>

Chakotay's chest moved in a small sigh as he lowered his cup of tea from his lips, casting a glance around the busy room before meeting her eyes again. "_I REALLY DON'T KNOW_." He admitted to her in the privacy of sign then smiled at her reassuringly when her face creased in concern. "The Captain will try to make the best decision in regards to this crew's safety, but I'm sure Neelix will be lobbying her to do all she can for them."

"It is Neelix's feelings I am concerned for." Seven stated tersely. "He has not interacted so fully with members of his own people in many years; he will be upset if we do nothing for them." Chakotay winced in silent agreement and Seven took that as a cue to continue thoughtfully, "I'd equate this experience for him to the rest of this crew returning to Earth, a "home" of sorts."

Chakotay looked at her surprise, still thrown off sometimes by her sudden bursts of emotional insight. "I hadn't thought of it like that, it must be…" He trailed off, lost in his own memories for a second, then reached over and squeezed her hand affectionately. "I'm sure Neelix would be glad to know that you understand. Have you come up with anything in Astrometrics that would help the settlers yet?"

A dissatisfied frown crossed Seven's face. "Nothing of much significance as yet…" She began, halting midsentence when Chakotay suddenly signed Neelix's name sign to her and indicated the doorway behind her. Quickly she twisted around in her chair to see Neelix headed towards them with a pretty and smiling Talaxian woman and a young boy Seven could only assume was the woman's son. The boy appeared awestruck by his surroundings, beaming from ear to ear as Neelix pointed things out to him.

"Hi Neelix, how are our new arrivals getting on?" Seven saw Chakotay greet them warmly.

Neelix's mouth moved in a visibly cheery but otherwise unreadable manner in reply before he turned to her with a toothy grin. "_SEVEN, this is D-E-X-A…_" He introduced the woman with obvious affection on his face, then pointed to the boy, who was already trying to speak to Seven at an excitably fast rate, "…_and this is her son, D-R-A-X_."

"I am Seven of Nine; you may address me as Seven." Seven replied simply as both Drax and Dexa looked at Neelix's slowly signing hands in confusion. Neelix opened his mouth again, presumably to explain, but Seven beat him to it. "I am deaf. I'm sorry to say that I cannot for the moment understand spoken Talaxian."

Shock and awkwardness passed across Dexa's face only for a moment before she smiled warmly in reply, the best form of communication, but Drax continued to talk. Chakotay touched her arm gently, "Do you want me to interpret or do you want to use your comm. device?" he asked her kindly.

Seven smiled at him gratefully, "I'd appreciate it if you'd interpret please. I am still adjusting to my comm. device."

"_HE'S ASKING IF THE BORG MADE YOU DEAF AND ALSO IF YOU REALLY HAVE A BORG LAB._" Chakotay interpreted what Drax was saying honestly, even though he could hear Dexa telling her son not to be so rude.

As Chakotay had thought, Seven didn't take offence, instead studying the boy's curious face for a moment before replying, "No, a recent accident deafened me, but I do work in a "Borg lab" you call it, its proper name is Astrometrics. Would you like to see it?" Seven didn't need Chakotay's interpreting skills to know his response was "Yes", the youngster's beaming grin along with his delighted jump in the air told her enough. "Come with me then." She urged him as she stood up from the table, only pausing as Dexa flushed in embarrassment. "If you are uncomfortable…" Seven started, but the other woman shook her head rigorously, glancing at and asking Chakotay for help. Seven couldn't help but flinch, just because she had an interpreter, doesn't mean people shouldn't look at her when they were talking!

"_SHE SAYS SHE DOESN'T WANT HIM TO INTERFERE WITH YOUR WORK._" Chakotay explained helpfully, not noticing Seven's unease.

"His presence would not disturb me." Seven assured her hurriedly, now that she understood. Neelix murmured something to Dexa and she relaxed, laughing when Drax pulled Seven and Chakotay along and falling in step behind them with Neelix.

"Thank you for your assistance." Seven whispered in Chakotay's ear during a small gap in Drax's incessant questioning as they walked along. She swallowed awkwardly as he waved off her thanks dismissively. "I hope it does not irritate you, having me rely on you in such situations."

Chakotay squeezed her hand that he was holding tightly, not replying any further until they reached Astrometrics, when he knelt down to Drax. "Here's Astrometrics Drax, why don't you go and get your mom and Neelix and see what's taking them so long?"

Drax nodded, "Yeah, they're being really slowpokes!" He agreed, almost bubbling over with impatience. "I'll go get them Mr Commander!"

Chakotay waited only until Drax had disappeared around the corner out of sight and earshot before he wrapped his arm firmly around Seven's waist and leaned into her face, almost forcing her to press her back into the bulkhead. "Irritate me?" he echoed, his face so close Seven could feel his warm breath against her skin and stare fully into his eyes, burning intensely with hurt. "I don't mind doing _anything _for you, why would I? It's _you_ who seems to be uncomfortable relying on me, or anyone else for that matter…" His head lowered away from hers bitterly, until that is, Seven brought her own down on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. It is pride and nothing else. Certainly not a lack of trust…" She murmured into his neck, before forcing herself to look at his face again, rather than retreat into the safety of not seeing his reaction. "I have rejected help to varying degrees ever since I was freed, even though I am adapting to my new circumstances, it was still…unsettling for strangers to witness my flaws…"

"Seven, it's not weak of you to ask for help in something you just can't do, just like it's not weak for me to ask you for help explaining physics or something similar, okay?" Chakotay told her, his grip around her tightening in frustration.

"Okay." Seven agreed, kissing him lightly and breathing a self-deprecating laugh as he relaxed. "You must think me hypocritical, pleading adaptations from others at one moment and rejecting their help at another…"

Chakotay laughed, "No more hypocritical than the rest of us Seven." He assured her before pulling her into a hug.

* * *

><p>"Your Commander and his wife are very sweet together." Dexa commented to Neelix as they strolled down the hallway together, taking the route to Astrometrics at a more leisurely pace than the other three.<p>

Neelix jumped momentarily, "His wife?"

Dexa blushed a little at his obvious surprise, "Seven of Nine, the Borg woman? I'm sorry, they seemed so caring towards each other, I was wrong to assume…"

Neelix backtracked with an embarrassed chuckle. "Oh they _do _care for each other, that's as clear as the sea of Talax, but married? No, not yet anyway." He smiled to himself at the thought, "I'd like to be here for that wedding day though. They've both had…lonely times I think, so they deserve what they have now and in the future."

"Lonely? On this ship?" Dexa asked incredulously. "How can that be?"

Neelix couldn't help but sigh, garnering a concerned look from Dexa. "You'd be surprised. Seven and Chakotay aren't perhaps the best examples, both a little reserved, but even the most extrovert of us can feel a little alone…" He trailed off regretfully, then gave Dexa a gleaming grin, "I am the Morale Officer after all, I'm privy to those sorts of things."

Dexa looped his arm securely through hers and leaned into his side. "Yes, I'm sure you do know." She replied softly.

**A/n: I hope this was okay, I'm down with a bad cold and wasn't sure what to write until I eventually thought of adapting "Homestead" for this story. PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

"_GREEN 11._" Naomi Wildman's small but careful fingers signed before she snatched up the green kadiskot token and slid it neatly into place on the upright board, causing it to beep joyfully. She smiled triumphantly at her favourite opponent, Seven of Nine, but immediately noticed that her friend's attention was not as focused on the game as usual, evidenced by the fact that Naomi had won with relative ease. Politely, she tapped her metallic hand, waiting with maturity beyond her years for Seven's pale blue eyes to fix on her before speaking, "Kadiskot, I win." She said simply before curiosity took over, "Are you thinking about Commander Chakotay?"

Seven, rather than draw back from the blunt question as she would've done with anyone else, just gave Naomi an amused smile, "No more so than usual." She replied before her hands tightened a little on the edge of the table. "I apologise for my preoccupation, I was remembering a conversation I had with my aunt." She explained quietly.

Naomi's eyebrows rose in surprise and interest. "Your dad's sister? What were you talking about?" She blushed pink as she belatedly recalled her mother's instructions not to be nosy.

Seven saw the little girl's embarrassment and as such answered her honestly, remembering her own forays into awkward questioning. "She transmitted some of my parents' diaries, from before we left on the Raven, through the data stream. She thought it was time for me to see them."

"Oh." Naomi whispered, she hadn't expected that but knew from living in a world of adults when to change the subject. "We should think up a sign for kadiskot."

Seven gave an unconscious sigh of relief as she gratefully picked up the new topic. "That would be useful for us yes, although "win"…" She quickly made the sign to demonstrate, "…might suffice, there is no reason why you shouldn't invent a sign. Your use of the language is growing more varied and precise everyday."

Naomi beamed at the compliment, "Icheb's been teaching me when he's off-duty."

"I appreciate that…" Seven began gratefully, "…but I'm sure your mother would prefer that your time was spent on your school curriculum."

Naomi's expression stiffened. "I spend enough time on that."

Seven's gaze narrowed worriedly, wondering for a moment if she'd misread the lips of the little girl she knew to be the most eager of students. "Don't you like Ensigns Kim and Lafferty teaching you?" she asked carefully, "They were both first grade graduates of Starfleet Academy."

Naomi cringed a little, "I _like _them Seven, they're both really nice." She clarified hurriedly, "It's just that they always seem to make a chore out of teaching maths and science, like they expect me not to understand." She explained with an exasperated sigh, "Can't you teach me again? You're back on duty…"

Seven felt all her muscles tense, she hated letting Naomi down in any way. "Naomi…" She began, intending to excuse herself from teaching duty, but as she studied the girl's pleading expression her decisiveness failed her. She'd withdrawn from educating Naomi after her accident, believing their communication would be so hampered by her deafness that it would be pointless to continue. Now however, she saw that past decision as reeking of self-pity and doubt. They were talking just as much as they ever had through lip-reading and sign, although it took a little more effort on Seven's part than before. "If you truly wish it Naomi, I am happy to teach you again." She concluded, "But you will need to gain your mother's permission and speak to Ensigns Kim and Lafferty."

"_I WILL_!" Naomi signed eagerly, her hands bouncing slightly in excitement, before she lapsed back into speech. "I know Mom will agree, she did before."

Seven swallowed awkwardly, despite knowing that the good-natured Samantha Wildman probably saw no more of a problem with her deafness than her daughter did. "I hope she will." She replied graciously before she finally fully noticed her defeat at kadiskot. "Have you been practising with Mr Neelix over the comm. system? Your technique has improved."

"A little." Naomi admitted, shifting in her chair. "He's really happy with Dexa and Drax, he says he's missing me though, and everyone here."

Seven saw tears glistening on the edges of Naomi's pale eyelashes. "I don't doubt that." She said with gentle certainty, earning a weakly grateful smile from Naomi. Seven knew that the girl was struggling to adapt to her godfather's absence, and that was a large part of the reason she was spending her off-duty here with her rather than regenerating as she'd been scheduled.

"Neither do I, I miss him." Naomi responded, her head so low Seven could barely see her lips, before she forcibly perked up a little, peering mischievously at Seven over the kadiskot board. "You know what Neelix told me?" Seven shook her head blankly, although she knew she was being led into something. "He told me that Dexa thought you and the Commander were married when she first met you!" she giggled.

Seven felt herself blushing to the roots of her hair, a sensation she found mildly unpleasant but judging from Naomi Wildman's expression she found funny. "Well, that's…gratifying to know I suppose…" She stammered, taking a quick gulp from her water glass to recover her composure, "But I hope Neelix corrected her?"

Naomi's shoulders heaved in a sigh, her mouth turning down in disappointment, the sight of which made Seven colour more. "He did." She conceded before her face brightened again, "If the Commander asked you, would you say yes?"

"Ask me what?" Seven retorted sharply, pursing her lips as Naomi's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "Such speculation is premature Naomi, you should not speak that way."

Naomi's head dipped, suitably chastised, but not quite willing to let the subject drop entirely, "It would be nice if _anyone _got married, I've never seen a real wedding, since Tom and B'Elanna eloped on the holodeck…"

"Given the number of possible couples on this ship, you are bound to see one eventually." Seven advised briskly, having decided that this vein of conversation had gone far enough. Quickly she reset the kadiskot board, "I think we have time for one more game before I have to return to Astrometrics."

* * *

><p>Chakotay rounded the corner at a hurried jog to see Seven standing, as arranged, outside the looming doors of Holodeck 2. He caught her watching glance and emphatically signed, "<em>SORRY<em>" as he slowed to a halt beside her. "_I WAS DELAYED IN ENGINEERING_." He explained when she didn't immediately reply.

"_ENGINEERING_?" Seven signed quickly to confirm his words, her brow creasing in concern. "Has Lieutenant Torres taken ill?" she asked worriedly.

Chakotay chuckled under his breath, "Not exactly, she had a false labour last night and so was disgruntled about still being pregnant today that she tackled every last job in Engineering herself. I finally had to threaten to send her to the Brig for enforced relaxation if she'd didn't leave."

"If that was the case then I am surprised you are not guarding the Brig." Seven said drily before sympathy took over, "It is an unfortunate characteristic of Klingon physiology that false labour is relatively common, it occurs more than once in a quarter of Klingon pregnancies."

"Don't repeat that statistic to B'Elanna, the Doctor narrowly avoided being decompiled today for saying the same thing." Chakotay warned her wryly.

"She has obviously been making that threat frequently." Seven replied with a soft laugh as she remembered having a very similar conversation with Tom.

"I can't say I'm surprised." Chakotay muttered as he dialled his holodeck access code into the console set in the wall. "What did you do today?" he asked as they walked inside and the door whooshed shut behind them.

"Apart from my usual duties in Astrometrics, I spent my lunch hour with Naomi Wildman."

Chakotay smiled at the latter bit of information. "I'm sure she appreciated that, how is she holding up without Neelix?"

Seven gave an uncertain sigh, "She is gradually adapting." She answered cautiously, "But she was in good enough sprits to win our kadiskot game and convince me to teach her again." She thought briefly of mentioning Naomi's teasing on the subject of marriage, but decided it was far too awkward.

Chakotay's dimpled grin showed his pleasure much more than the works flickering across his lips. "That's great! I know you always enjoyed doing that."

"I did." Seven murmured in agreement, lowering her gaze momentarily from his. Had she really dropped so much of her old routine from before her accident that to resume some of it seemed unusual? Her introspective thoughts were interrupted by Chakotay's warm fingers on the base of her chin as he tilted her head back up and pressed his lips gently to hers. "What was that for?" she whispered as the kiss broke, leaving behind a lingering tingle on her lips.

"_DO I NEED A REASON_?" he signed back teasingly, making her laugh as she shook her head. "_YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL_." He added seriously as she fell silent again.

Seven blushed as she saw his particular emphasis on the sign "beautiful", a sweeping movement over the face. "_THANK YOU_." She replied with a shy smile before honestly adding, "_YOU'RE VERY HANDSOME_."

His reply to that was to slide his hand into hers and squeeze it as he glanced around the still inactivated holodeck. "Which programme do you want to run? Tom says we can use any of his, although I'm not really in the mood for Captain Proton tonight…" He paused as he saw her pensive expression, "_WHAT'S WRONG_?" he asked anxiously.

Seven took a deep breath. "I could show you my new programme if you wish." She suggested quietly.

"You have a holodeck programme?" Chakotay asked incredulously. It had taken a lot of coaxing on his part to convince her to forego their normal style of date, generally a meal in his quarters, for the holodeck. "Not that that's bad…" He hurriedly backtracked as she arched her eyebrows at him, "I just thought you didn't like the holodecks much."

"I don't generally." Seven agreed. This was true, she'd never engaged in the crew's shared, and to her incomprehensible, enjoyment of Fair Haven, and after the incident with her emotional fail-safe she'd for a time vowed never to step on a holodeck again, but recent events had softened this conviction. "But this programme is an exception, would you like to see it?"

Deeply intrigued, Chakotay signed eagerly in the affirmative, "_YES, IF YOU DON'T MIND_."

Seven smiled to herself as she uttered the order to the Computer. "Computer, activate programme Seven of Nine Alpha 1."

She didn't need to check her computer integrated pager to see that her command had been followed, the familiar landscape of pristine snow with a star specked sky hanging above now spread out, seemingly endlessly, before them. "Where are we?" Chakotay asked her, his eyes showing his surprise and amazement as he looked around.

"An approximation of Earth's Arctic Circle." Seven answered bluntly, almost as if it should be obvious.

Chakotay's brow furrowed in confusion. "But it isn't even cold, it's…room temperature." He remarked disbelievingly, the snowy scene completely at odds with the comfortably warm air around him.

Seven smirked at him in amusement. "The one advantage of the holodeck as opposed to reality is that any environment can be made comfortable." She explained pragmatically.

"I suppose so…" Chakotay said, trying to hide his lingering bemusement but obviously failing as she addressed the Computer again.

"Computer, activate Aurora Borealis stimulation." Seven commanded, unable to hold back a smile of delight as the sky suddenly exploded into streaks and columns of colour above them.

"The Northern Lights…" Chakotay whispered in awe, immediately following Seven in lying down on the snow to look up at the spectacular rainbow kaleidoscope unfolding against the night sky. He touched Seven's shoulder to break the spell and get her attention. "What made you think of this? It's wonderful!"

"My parents." Seven whispered thickly, witnessing his gently questioning frown cross his face as she turned onto her side to fully face him. "My Aunt Irene sent me their diaries two days ago on the data stream."

Chakotay was naturally concerned by the sad note in her voice. "You've seen the Raven's logs, I thought that was all…"

Seven shook her head. "These are from long before then, my mother apparently kept one from early adolescence and my father not much later. They were written up until they left on the Raven…" Her voice trailed off, "Papa was also a good correspondent and photographer, Irene Hansen kept all his letters to her and many photographs."

Chakotay wrapped a reassuring arm around her slender, shaking, frame. "I'm glad." He said softly, unable to vocalise more complicated feelings about the revelation.

Seven gulped hard, her vision blurring as she leaned into him, gripping tightly to his shirt.

"_THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN THIS PLACE THOUGH_." Chakotay signed slowly, not wanting to put her under the strain of reading his lips at that moment.

"According to the diaries, while my parents were dating their university posted them to Northern Norway to observe atmospheric phenomenon." Seven explained softly, "There is a particular photograph my aunt sent me, it is of them standing together under these lights. It must've been one of their favourites because I can remember looking at it as a child…"

"_SO YOU CREATED THIS_." Chakotay concluded.

Seven nodded into his chest. "Yes, it was out of curiosity at first, and then I found it relaxed me. It's very visual…" Seven paused and flipped back onto her back to watch the dancing lights again. she didn't think she needed to explain to him that visual beauty was more important to her now than before. When she looked up at this display, she didn't feel like she was missing anything, even her mother's diary's description of the lights as seeing a reflection of heaven didn't strike her as overly fanciful. "Do you like it?" she asked almost inaudibly without turning back to face him.

She got an unexpected answer when he held himself above her and just kissed her in response, making her forget about holograms as she pulled him closer to prolong and intensify the embrace.

**A/n: I'm not sure where the idea for this chapter came from, it wasn't what I intended to write, but I really hope you liked it! PLEASE REVIEW! :D The final chapter of "Seven's Sins", "Lust", should be up sometime tonight, please read and review that too! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/n: Thanks for the support everyone, there now definitely will be a sequel to "Bonds of Love, Ties of Family", I just need to think out the plot arc a little more. It'll be up relatively soon, but since it's competing with a few other new fic ideas for my inspiration, give me time to decide what to start first. Thanks again. :D**

Seven was studiously logging all of the, rather lethargic, scan readings her Astrometrics console was sorting through, fighting a sigh of boredom as she tried to keep her mind from wandering. It was a rare experience for her to wish for a break in routine but this morning she felt inexplicably restless, sometimes she wondered if she was becoming too used to having a social life to be able to work at peak efficiency… The prominent light on her console suddenly lit up, alerting her to the doors being opened behind her. As she spun around she couldn't stop her heart from giving a joyful little leap at the sight of Chakotay's smiling face. "What purpose brings you here?" she asked curiously before she let him lean in for a sweet kiss of greeting.

Chakotay grinned at her as they pulled apart, it still gave him a warm feeling to see her opening up in his presence, although in the back of his mind he thought of how rarely he'd seen her truly happy in past years, why hadn't he seen it then and helped her? "I was on my way to give the Captain my morning report and I thought I'd drop in on the way here." He explained.

Seven let her eyebrows arch, her lips curving in an amused smile. "Astrometrics is not on the direct route from your quarters to the Bridge. In fact it is a detour which adds 10% onto your journey time." She remarked drily, her eyes sparkling as she watched his mouth laugh.

"How inefficient of me." Chakotay agreed as his laughter eased, "Are you going to make me regret it?"

"I should hope not." Seven replied flirtatiously, wrapping her arm around his neck to give him a longer kiss. As they paused for breath, Seven eyed the PADD in his hand with interest. "_WHAT'S IN YOUR REPORT TODAY_?" she signed to him.

Chakotay shrugged his shoulders, "_NOTHING MUCH_." He answered nonchalantly, reverting back to speech when he remembered the news of the day, "B'Elanna went into false labour again, that's three times now."

"_THREE TIMES?_" Seven asked for confirmation, sighing as he nodded, "Klingon females are prone to false labours, it's a flaw in their evolution."

Chakotay chuckled to himself, "_COULD YOU BE A LITTLE LESS SYMPATHETIC?" _he joked.

Seven tapped him lightly on the arm, frowning slightly. "I _am _sympathetic of course, it must be very frustrating for Lieutenant Torres, but it's a fact that she will have to endure it."

"I recommend you don't tell her that…" Chakotay advised as he glanced thoughtfully down at his PADD, "…just like I'm not going to tell Chell his "Red Alert Chilli" doesn't strike as too appealing…"

Seven squinted at him in concentration, but the second part of that sentence, even on his familiar lips, was an indecipherable blur. "What was that? "Red" something?"

Chakotay quickly gave her an apologetic smile and handed her the PADD. "_C-H-E-L-L GAVE ME A SAMPLE OF HIS NEW MESS HALL MENU_."

Seven skimmed over the menu hurriedly, "Red Alert Chilli…" She repeated, "It doesn't seem the most appetising of names…"

"It doesn't does it?" Chakotay agreed with a chuckle. "If the Captain approves the menu, that's what's being served up tonight."

"Perhaps you, in your role as First Officer, should discourage her from doing so…" Seven began to reply wryly but was interrupted by his warm hand on her arm.

"Speaking of tonight…" He started softly before switching into sign, "_WHY DON'T YOU COME TO MY QUARTERS FOR DINNER AGAIN?_"

Seven gave a soft, reminiscent smile at the thought of her culinary efforts in his quarters the night before last; he'd seemed appreciative of her skills. "Is this your way of avoiding Chell's cooking?" she teased him gently, "Not that I object…"

Chakotay laughed, one of his many motives had been uncovered. "_I'LL COOK FOR YOU THIS TIME, DEAL?" _

"_AGREED_." Seven answered quickly, pausing as Chakotay's features suddenly creased into a serious frown. "_WHAT'S WRONG?_" she asked anxiously.

"The console is sounding an alert…for wormholes…" Chakotay explained slowly, disbelief evident in his features.

Seven didn't bother questioning him further, instead turning back to the direct source, her console. Obviously there were still some, more obscure, alerts she'd still to change from an audio cue to a visual one. She saw what the alert was referring to instantly and pulled up the scan on her viewscreen. "It would appear to be…" She began uncertainly, "…a concentrated number of wormholes in one small sector." She started to explain to Chakotay but was interrupted by the vibration of her pager.

It was the Captain. The transcription of her words read, "Are you reading what we're reading up here Seven?"

Seven tapped her comm. badge to reply, "Yes Captain, it would appear to a large number of wormholes."

There was a brief pause before the Captain's words appeared on the pager's screen. "Then I think you'd better get up here so we can decide what we're going to do about it."

Seven caught Chakotay smiling beside her, "I will bring the Commander to the Bridge with me Captain." She agreed before cutting the comm. link off and turning for the door.

Chakotay, who been listening to the Captain's voice as Seven read her words, remarked as they walked together, "_SHE SOUNDS EXCITED_."

Seven's lips pursed pensively, "We shall have to wait to see if such excitement is well founded." She cautioned.

* * *

><p>"So, what's the verdict? Does one of them lead to the Alpha Quadrant?" Harry asked, practically bouncing up and down at his post in anticipation.<p>

Despite his overexcitement distorting his lips, Seven got the gist of the question. "It would appear to be a nebula where wormhole activity is high. I cannot tell conclusively from this distance whether one leads to the Alpha Quadrant or not, but given my estimates of how many wormholes there are, the probability is reasonable."

The Captain didn't think she'd ever smiled so widely at the word "reasonable", but she checked her enthusiasm with a justified level of scientific curiosity. "A nebula of wormholes?" Can such a thing occur in nature?"

"Theoretically yes, but this would be my first knowledge of one." Seven replied.

"We're all in the same boat here then." The Captain responded lightly before addressing her senior officers who, for the moment, made up the entirety of the Bridge crew, "Now, I would order you to not get your hopes up…" She glanced at Harry, "…but I know such an order would be impossible to follow. All I ask is that we keep this quiet until we've done some reconnaissance." She beamed at Tom, sitting in front of her at the comm., "Set a course Mr Paris, your new addition might be born in the Alpha Quadrant yet."

"Yes Ma'am." Tom agreed eagerly, dialling in the commands with skilful fingers.

Seven soon retreated into the turbolift, feeling uneasy about the speed of events, and was surprised to see Chakotay step in beside her. "_YOU OKAY_?" he asked, his expression concerned, as the doors slid shut.

Seven nodded quickly, sighing as he appeared unconvinced. "_I FEEL A LITTLE…OVERWHELMED_." She admitted, sticking to the relative privacy of sign even though there was no one to eavesdrop in the turbolift. If she were honest with herself, something about the nebula struck her as dangerous, to the point where a small knot of nausea taunted her stomach, even though she couldn't define why she felt that way.

Chakotay gave her shoulder an understanding squeeze. "_THAT'S OKAY, IT'S ALL PRETTY SUDDEN_." He reassured her gently while peering at her worriedly. She looked pale and even looked a little faint to his eyes. He knew she wouldn't appreciate him sending her to see the Doctor, but decided to tentatively suggest a compromise, lapsing into speech. "Why don't you go and regenerate for an hour or two? The Captain won't mind. I'll come and get you if there are any serious developments, okay?"

Seven gave him a watery smile of gratitude. "Thank you Chakotay." She murmured, giving him a light kiss as he stepped out of the turbolift.

Chakotay was surprised but relieved that she had acquiesced so quickly, she must really be feeling unwell to so rapidly agree to rest. "_SWEET DREAMS_." He signed to her kindly just as the turbolift doors closed to take her down to Cargo Bay 2.

* * *

><p>The regeneration cycle began like all others, plunging Seven into the uncomplicated darkness of unconsciousness, but within a few seconds she knew something was different, <em>wrong<em>. She sensed a presence, as if someone were standing next to her, and then suddenly, a _voice _exploded in her mind. "Hello Seven."

Seven's eyes shot open as she was overwhelmed with confusion and fear. How could she possibly be _hearing _a voice? "How can I…" She started to say, her throat drying up as she realised she could hear her own voice, a sound which had once been so familiar but which now sounded foreign and strange.

"Don't be afraid." The first speaker instructed icily. Seven stiffened as her numb brain finally recognised the voice and her eyes registered where her regeneration cycle had taken her, the inside of a Borg Cube.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she hissed, cringing at the half forgotten sensation of sound.

The Borg Queen's opaque black eyes stared at her, not reacting to her hostile tone. "We are close by, why shouldn't we connect with you? You are…family after all." Seven couldn't stop herself from flinching at the misuse of the word, but the Queen ignored that and placed a cold hand lightly on the side of Seven's hair. "Your audio implants are irreparably damaged; you cannot hear as an individual can you?"

"No, and I don't know why I can hear you now." Seven answered bitterly.

The Queen almost looked disappointed in her. "Have you really so thoroughly forgotten what the Collective is capable of? You yourself are not hearing, the Collective is hearing _for _you. If you were to return to the Collective, that defective implant, the brain damage, it would all be irrelevant."

Seven glared at her. "If I remember correctly, any drone with such a defect would be deactivated on the grounds of efficiency."

The Queen leaned over her. "We could not deactivate you Seven, you were always my favourite. You are special, _unique_. You would add to our perfection. Come back to us and you will be perfect again."

Anger exploded out from Seven's throat. "I'd prefer to remain an imperfect individual than a Borg drone! Release me! You may be able to contact me when I am regenerating but I'm _not _your drone anymore!"

"As you wish." The Queen whispered harshly, before vengefully plunging her fist into Seven's abdomen, making her gasp in pain. "If that is so, keep Janeway and her vessel out of our nebula or you will all be assimilated!" she snarled before sadistically scraping her assimilation tubes against Seven's cheek. "If you had come back to us willingly we would've let your…child exist…" She twisted her fist into Seven's stomach again, "But if you come upon us again, we will not show any of you mercy…"

"Child…" Seven choked out faintly, not understanding.

At that moment she was released from her alcove and sank onto her knees on the floor, breathless and coughing, her world oppressively silent once more.

**A/n: I'm starting to think I'm ****addicted to cliffhangers… PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/n: This chapter is later than I intended because my internet connection was being temperamental, sorry everyone and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

Seven remained kneeling on the unforgiving floor of the Cargo Bay long after the initial physical pain of being thrown out of her alcove, and the mental link with the Collective, had faded. Her technologically enhanced body was relatively resilient; it was emotional shock which trapped her in a paralysis of uncontrollable shaking as she tried to process what she'd just experienced. She knew, with a sickening certainty, that it had been real, she'd been held in the grip of the Collective for long enough to know the difference between a dream, or a nightmare in this case, and a true telepathic connection. Tentatively, as if to test that knowledge, she curled her fist and pounded it against the floor. The hope that had been cruelly instilled in her by the Queen died as only the fleeting vibrations of the movement reached her senses by travelling up her arm; the sound she knew was there was once again unreachable. She couldn't stop bitter tears of frustration spiking her eyes as a renewed sense of loss assaulted her. Even though she'd chosen not to pay the price for her hearing's restoration, and never would, she still felt horrified and violated by the thought that the last sounds she'd ever hear were the Borg Queen's threats.

As realisation, if not yet acceptance, of these facts sunk in, Seven was finally able to analyse what the Queen had invaded her mind to tell her, the crew were running the risk of assimilation to approach the nebula. The part of her mind still in denial rebelled against the thought, the Queen could be lying. She hadn't seen any sign of Borg activity while on the Bridge or in Astrometrics… The Borg would be gaining nothing by such a deception, her logic reminded her bluntly; if they were not in close proximity they would not be able to reach her. She swallowed the bile which suddenly rose in her throat, how long had they been monitoring her, using her as a conduit to gain tactical information? At that thought, her arm slung unconsciously around her waist as she remembered the last taunting threat against her, against a child, _her_ child… She shook her head vigorously in denial of her own train of thought, it was impossible, the implants of the Borg which still lurked in her body made it impossible for her to be…

A dizzy sensation overwhelmed her and she closed her eyes briefly, having belatedly realised she was hyperventilating. As she forced herself to level her breathing, that unerringly logical mental voice which she normally relied on for guidance but was now beginning to find agitating reasserted itself. Of course it's _possible_, the voice argued, you're a sexually active woman of child-bearing age… She clenched her teeth as she tried to silence her own relentless rationale, but as she shut it out the Queen's voice once again echoed through her mind…

Someone suddenly touched her quivering shoulder and she felt a shriek of fear leave her throat and her arm reach up defensively in reflex before her eyes registered that it was Chakotay bending anxiously over her. She couldn't even be sure if her vocal chords fully gasped out his name as tears of relief and fresh panic tightened her chest and blurred her vision. Blinking them back as his reassuringly strong frame sank down to the floor beside her, she made herself speak. "Chakotay, I…I…" His frantic flow of speech, which had actually been passing over his face since he'd found her without her being fully aware of it, slowed down in relief as she comprehended him but in her frayed state of mind her lip-reading skills had imploded. "I don't understand…" She mumbled brokenly.

Chakotay's expression went blank for a second. In truth, when he'd walked in to find her half collapsed next to an angrily sparking alcove, all thoughts of warning her to his presence beforehand or even his now wide knowledge of ASL had completely left his mind and he was still struggling to calm himself as he peered into her ashen, visibly traumatised face. "_WHAT HAPPENED_?" he finally managed to sign.

"The Borg Queen…communicated with me through my alcove." Seven answered slowly, distractedly wiping her eyes to clear her vision and focus on him.

"What?" Chakotay practically shouted, blindly taking her arm in a strong grip. "We have to get you to the Doctor…"

Seven caught the word "Doctor" and stiffened, feeling blood rush traitorously to her face. "No!" she retorted insistently, guilt flooding her when he shot her a pained and incredulous look. "I don't think she damaged me, it would be counterproductive to her goal." She gulped hard as he watched her intently in concern, "She wanted me to pass on a message." She informed him tersely, avoiding his direct gaze as she confided, "I…I heard her…"

She could see that he was gallantly fighting a disbelieving reaction, his dark eyes gentle but tight with worry as his lips said, "But Seven, honey, you can't…"

"I was linked with the Collective, if they could hear then so could I." Seven interrupted sharply, taking a shaky breath to calm herself as heartfelt sympathy instantly radiated over his face and his grip moved to hold her comfortingly against him. "She said the wormhole nebula belonged to the Borg and if we entered it we would be assimilated!" she told him hurriedly, struggling to stand and feeling ashamed that she'd allowed her personal concerns to push aside the imminent danger the ship was in.

"We have to tell the Captain!" Chakotay said quickly in reply, urgency showing in his every movement as he steadied her. "I came to wake you because we're almost there and the Captain wants you on the Bridge…"

* * *

><p>"Captain, we must avoid the nebula at all costs!" Seven announced before she was fully out of the turbolift which had taken her and Chakotay straight to the Bridge.<p>

Janeway immediately turned to face her, the spectacular image of a web of wormholes looming behind her on the main viewscreen. "Avoid it?" she asked incredulously, her expression becoming more serious when she saw Chakotay standing next to Seven in support. "_WHY SEVEN_?" she signed quickly, avoiding some of the Bridge crew's doubtful glances.

"It is Borg territory." Seven stated firmly. She may not have been able to see the lips of everyone in the room, but the chill of fear which entered the atmosphere at her words was palpable.

Harry Kim caught her eye. "But Seven…" He began, desperation evident on his face, "There hasn't been any sign of Borg activity…"

"Their shielding technology is incomparably effective." Seven explained tersely before glancing at Chakotay for support. "The Borg Queen contacted me through my alcove, she said that if we enter "her" nebula, we will be assimilated.

Seven saw from scanning some of her crewmates' faces that they wanted to disbelieve her, but then she saw Tuvok raise his hand slightly to gain her attention while addressing the Captain. "Given that the Queen has contacted Seven before, I suggest we heed her warning and circumvent the nebula."

The Captain responded with a sharp nod of her head. "I completely agree Mr Tuvok." She cast a single regretful glance back at the nebula on her viewscreen before issuing the order, "Mr Paris, enter in a new course…" A sudden violent jolt interrupted her, almost sending her sprawling to the floor. "What was that?" she shouted to no one in particular.

It was Tom who answered her, disbelief evident in his tone. "There's a _new _wormhole forming off the port bow Captain!"

"How is _that _possible?" The Captain asked, but Tom's information was proven correct as the viewscreen suddenly filled with the image of an opening wormhole dead ahead of them.

Seven hadn't been able to interpret spoken information in the chaos, no one stayed in one place long enough for her to gain more than a few panicked exclamations, but she assumed that the Captain would want her in her post, telling her what this phenomenon was. Managing to navigate her way to her console, she read the scans and immediately cursed her own lack of insight. "Captain, we're inside a transwarp hub!"

The Captain wheeled around to face her as she tried to take in this information. A transwarp hub? Had they really just flown into one of the centres of the Borg transportation network? "I thought you told me there were only six of those in the entire galaxy…" She started, dread settling in her gut.

"Correct." Seven answered heavily, "But it would appear that this is one of them."

"I would say she's right!" Chakotay called to the Captain, pointing to the viewscreen which now showed the nightmarish hulk of a Borg Cube leaving the wormhole and heading straight for them.

"Tom!" Janeway cried out desperately, but thankfully the pilot's reflexes were quick enough to twist and roll Voyager out of the Cube's direct path.

"They are not reacting to us Captain." Tuvok reported stoically as the Cube drifted past them.

Janeway took in a sharp intake of breath before drily replying, "We must not be worth assimilating today."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Chakotay asked tightly as he slumped into his chair.

"Yes." Janeway answered in the same tone before again addressing Tom, "Get us as far away from this thing as possible Lieutenant."

"Yes Ma'am." Tom readily agreed.

* * *

><p>"But Captain, surely you'd acknowledge that we <em>could<em> find a way to evade the Borg?" Harry Kim questioned pressingly about an hour after the encounter. "This could be our only chance to find a faster route back to Earth!" he exclaimed passionately as his crewmates sent him a few dubious glances.

"I'm well aware of that Ensign." The Captain checked the young man sharply in answer. She understood how he felt, of course she did… She turned around in her chair to face him. "Harry, I know how you feel, believe me, but the welfare of this crew has to be my ultimate concern." She reminded him softly, "You'll understand one day."

Harry flushed in shame, "I understand that Captain and I apologise." He replied modestly, "It's just that…"

"Captain!" Seven unconsciously interrupted, being so engrossed in her console's worrying readings that she hadn't been watching for conversation. "I am registering a spacial anomaly…"

Chakotay frowned in concern as he met her eyes. "Another transwarp conduit?" He asked, knowing the Captain was on the brink of the same question.

"No, it would appear to be…temporal in nature." Seven reported pensively.

"Temporal?" The Captain echoed with a grimace as she stood up to stare at the widening tear in space. "Borg and time travel in the same day…" She muttered to herself incredulously, gasping as a small shuttle shot out of the anomaly.

"That shuttle has a…Federation signature Captain, and it's hailing us." Harry informed her unbelievingly.

"A Federation…" The Captain began to respond but was interrupted by the most startling sight on her viewscreen she'd ever seen, and after seven years on Voyager that was saying something! A woman with her own face was staring back at her, except that face was a much older version of her, with silver hair where hers was auburn and a face more significantly paved with age lines than hers was. "Who are you?" she asked angrily, shock turning to rage in her veins.

"I'm you, Captain." The older Kathryn Janeway replied with a slight smirk. It was only now that the Captain realised this woman wore what looked like an altered version of a Starfleet uniform, pips marking her out as an Admiral. "Close that rift with your phasers, would you? I didn't do this to suck you into my future, believe me."

"Why exactly _did _you do this?" The Captain spat out accusingly.

"To save my crew." Admiral Janeway answered as if it were obvious. "You have to go back to that nebula and get yourselves back to Earth, _now_."

**A/n: I hope no one minds me bringing elements of "Endgame" into this story. PLEASE REVIEW! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/n: Yay, my alerts are working again! I hope everyone else who was having trouble has had theirs restored too. **

"So, is she really...me?" The Captain whispered to the Doctor while giving her aged doppelganger sitting on the biobed an apprehensive glance. Yes, she'd certainly seen some strange things in her time but this was beyond mind blowing. She found herself hoping, as she watched the Doctor study the scans he'd taken, that this was some sort of alien impersonation. Troublesome as that would be, at least she'd know where she stood on how to deal with this…

The Doctor crushed those hopes with an equally conspiratorial whisper in reply, "Oh yes, she's definitely you, down to the last atom of DNA, although I'd wager on her being around 26 years your senior."

"26 years?" The Captain echoed hoarsely before rapidly regaining her wits, fighting her urge to stare at herself for answers. "Can you make any guesses about what may have brought her here?"

The Doctor barely had time to give a clueless shake of the head before Admiral Janeway broke in, "I already told you precisely why I'm here Captain, to get our crew home."

Her self-confident, almost lecturing tone made the younger Janeway bristle. "_I'm _in the middle of getting _my _crew home right now Admiral." She informed her icily.

The Admiral's expression darkened, her age beaten but still strong hands tightening around the edge of the biobed. "Maybe." She finally conceded tersely, "I suppose it must depend on perspective." Seeing an indignant question come to her alter-ego's lips, she turned swiftly to the Doctor, a wry smile creasing her features, "You were a little off on your estimates Doctor, I'm 26 and a half years older than your Captain is right now." A light laugh bubbled in her chest as they shared a startled look, caught out. "I may be old but my hearing is perfect." She flashed a brief, indulging smile at the Doctor, "Probably due to your exemplary care over the years Doctor."

The holographic medic was never immune to compliments; whoever they might have came from, and so straightened with pride. "Well, thank you Admiral…" He began to reply awkwardly before the swish of Sickbay's doors interrupted him.

Seven of Nine entered the room with all of her usual businesslike directness, a PADD gripped tightly in her hand as she stopped in front of the Captain. "I have finished my analysis of the Admiral's shuttle Captain." She reported hurriedly, handing her PADD over to the Captain, "The cerebral piloting interface and the phaser technology are incompatible with Voyager, but I believe we can adapt the shielding technology and the torpedoes to the ship's specifications."

Captain Janeway wasn't sure whether to be pleased with this information, after all they were in a region crawling with Borg and any advantage was desirable, or to be worried that they were already somewhat indebted to this inexplicable traveller. Seven looked as if she had decided on the other; it was unusual for the proudly detached Borg to be so visibly ill at ease. She put the PADD carrying the new data down to be able to sign her answer, "_GOOD WORK. START INSTALLING THE ENHANCEMENTS UNTIL I LET YOU KNOW OTHERWISE_."

"Yes Captain." Seven agreed quietly with a slight bob of her head, grateful for not having to lip-read under such unnerving conditions but deciding to speak herself in an effort to appear controlled. That attempt fell apart when Admiral Janeway stood up and touched her arm to get her attention, causing her to jump before she wheeled around sharply to face the older woman. The Admiral didn't even apologise for startling her, instead just staring at her for a few seconds with an eerily similar expression to the one Seven had seen on the Captain's face at first sight of the Admiral, disbelief and a degree of awe. Despite her reasoning telling her this thought was irrational, why would the Captain's future self be shocked by the sight of her, the knot that had settled in her stomach since the Queen's invasion twisted even tighter. Something just wasn't right… She frowned as she realised the Admiral had spoken to her, but from what she could see it was only two words, "Hello Seven".

She gave a hasty nod of acknowledgement and stepped back, almost colliding with the Doctor, who had to grab her shoulders to steady her. "Are you alright Seven?" he asked her, his face serious, "You haven't had a maintenance check for over two weeks. I know we've both been busy, but I could examine you now if you'd like…"

The Captain peered at Seven curiously for a moment as the former Borg's demeanour went from uneasy to uncharacteristically skittish, blood tingeing her pale cheeks for a moment. "No, thank you Doctor." She declined bluntly, "It is…inconvenient right now…" She continued, stumbling over her words, "I have a great number of upgrades to supervise."

The Doctor frowned at her questioningly but quickly realised she wasn't going to budge. "Of course." He agreed reluctantly but added firmer, "Later today then."

Seven gave another unnaturally rapid nod and left Sickbay just as quickly without another word. The Captain, looking after her, saw that the Admiral was also watching their protégé, her expression transformed from the shaky, fearful stare of a minute or so before to a small but knowing smirk. It was beyond the Captain's powers of self control not to put her hands on her hips and pointedly ask her, "What's going on there?"

The Admiral's smirk widened as she responded with a noncommittal shrug, "You'll find out."

* * *

><p>Seven breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she escaped into the hallway and then let herself lean back against a bulkhead as brief wave of exhaustion and nausea overcame her. Stubbornly, she refused to think about the more probable explanation for these sensations, preferring to blame the oppressive, uncertain atmosphere in Sickbay. She closed her eyes for a moment, and opened them again to find Chakotay gazing worriedly down at her. "Chakotay! What are you doing here?"<p>

She saw his chest heave a sigh, his face and broad shoulders tense. "The Captain wants me to…assess our new arrival." He said, before saying another sentence Seven didn't catch.

"What was that?" She asked tiredly, pressing the cool back of her cybernetic hand against her warm and aching forehead.

"_I SAID YOU LOOK AS WHITE AS A SHEET_." He explained, "_ARE YOU OKAY_?"

"_YES_!" Seven answered a little too firmly, making his eyes narrow in suspicion. Backtracking, she murmured, "It has been a somewhat stressful day, that's all."

He gently ran his strong hands soothingly up and down her arms. "I know, first the Borg and now time travel…"

She smiled wanly, trying to reassure him. "Both of which I find disconcerting but I have dealt with before, as have you."

"Yeah." Chakotay muttered, running a strained hand through his hair. "What's she like then?"

"The Admiral?" She paused as he nodded, not sure how to phrase how she felt. "_I DON'T BELIEVE SHE IS ENTIRELY TRUSTWORTHY._" She finally confided in sign, although regretted it slightly when his face darkened in agreement. She really did want her fears to be unfounded and it didn't help to find that Chakotay shared them.

Her feelings must've been obvious, for he leaned over to give her a quick kiss before heading into Sickbay himself. "_WE'LL BE FINE." _He assured her.

* * *

><p>"You can't possibly blame me for being in the dark about why you want to do this!" The Captain exclaimed irritably some time later as she walked with the Admiral back towards the Bridge. "From <em>my <em>perspective your future looks pretty damn good…"

The Admiral snorted at her younger self's naivety, "It's not what it seems, believe me!" she retorted bitterly.

"Oh no?" The Captain pressed, eyebrows raised. "You got the crew home, you're an Admiral. What's wrong with all that?"

"Plenty!" The Admiral snapped irately before taking a deep breath to calm herself, "I got my crew home sixteen years too late, that's what's wrong!"

"There's a time not so long ago I was told it would take us 75 years to get back, remember?" Captain Janeway reminded her, "I can't believe I would ever consider breeching the Temporal Prime Directive so drastically…"

"Let me give you some advice from a senior officer, the Temporal Directive isn't some holy covenant, it's a rule devised by some Starfleet Admirals to cover their asses…" The Admiral muttered in exasperation.

"_You're _an Admiral!" Captain Janeway pointed out incredulously.

"An extra gold pip on your uniform isn't worth the lives of friends, of _family_!" The Admiral hissed, "Over the next sixteen years you are going to lose 25 more crewmembers, aren't they worth the risk?"

Although the Captain had expected bad news, that number, a tenth of her current crew complement, hit her like a kick in the gut, rudely pushing all thoughts of duty from her mind. "What happened?" she asked in an anguished whisper.

"What about your precious Temporal Prime Directive?" The Admiral questioned infuriatingly.

"To hell with it?" The Captain snarled, glaring viciously at her younger self, who looked triumphant for a moment before regret and sadness took over.

"Firstly, Tuvok has a degenerative brain disorder he hasn't told you about yet, it can only be cured using a mind meld with a member of his family." A lump rose of guilt rose in the Admiral's throat, her matter of tact tone slipping, "That Borg nebula could save him from a long descent into dementia and we denied him that!" Despite herself, the Captain felt that same guilt clench around her heart as the Admiral took a breath, "And then there's Chakotay and Seven…"

"What about them?" The Captain demanded, now beyond restraint.

"Three years from now, you will decide to travel through a particularly unstable quantum nebula. It would've taken five years to go around so… Anyway, a violent discharge struck a direct hit on Astrometrics, where Seven, Chakotay, and their two year old all were at the time. Seven, who was also pregnant again at the time, and their child died before we could get them to Sickbay…" She paused, taking another shaky, grieving breath, "Chakotay survived the initial blast, but with his wife and children dead, I think he lost the will to live. He…succumbed to his injuries within hours…" She pursed her lips as she watched the Captain buckle over, shuddering with horror. "Do you understand why I came now?" she asked harshly.

"Y…Yes…" The Captain choked out in utter anguish.

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/n: Thanks to Morrigan Wildwood for updating "Meant to Be" again on Tuesday and to Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay for updating "Force Voyager". I really enjoyed both chapters so please update soon! :D**

"Well?" Captain Janeway asked more harshly than she'd intended as she finished telling Tuvok what the Admiral had told her about his future and was met with his level but unreadable gaze. "Is what she said true? Are you ill?"

Tuvok's eyes closed wearily for a moment as he nodded, but his voice, as usual, completely lacked emotion. "Yes, the Admiral is correct Captain. I was diagnosed eight months ago but since the Doctor is successfully controlling the symptoms to the point where I am still able to perform my duties, I had decided not to inform you as yet."

The Captain winced, for once not admiring his calm. He was talking as if all he had was a bad case of allergies, not a crippling mental disease! She took a deep breath to try and withhold the hurt she was experiencing, but her voice still sounded pained. "Tuvok, I'm your friend as well as your Captain. You should have told me so I could have supported you through all this."

Tuvok felt guilt prickle him upon hearing the sincere distress in her voice. "I understand why you feel that way Captain, I apologise."

The Captain dismissed his apology with a stressed wave of her hand. "I know you just wanted privacy for a while." She said softly, anger at the Admiral for putting her in such an awkward position surging briefly through her, "I presume she was also right about you needing a member of your family to cure you?" she asked heavily.

Tuvok nodded again, although the movement was now weighed with resignation. "Only a successful mind meld with a compatible member of my family in the near future will halt the progression of the disease." He confirmed matter-of-factly.

Janeway could no longer sit still, springing to her feet and beginning to pace around the room as she ran a strained hand through her auburn hair. "Oh Tuvok…" She exclaimed before her voice broke painfully, "If you knew that going through the nebula was your only hope for a cure, why did you advise me against it?"

Tuvok stiffened slightly, "My medical condition should not be taken into account when considering an action of such magnitude Captain."

Janeway shot him an exasperated frown, "You're of paramount importance to this crew Tuvok!" she told him sharply.

Tuvok gave a small sigh, looking at her with the understanding eyes of a parent reasoning with the whims of a small child, "The integrity of the timeline is also of paramount importance Captain." He reminded her, "As is the safety of this crew and of the Federation as a whole. The Admiral has brought future technology with her, intending to use it to help us evade the Borg, but if we fail and are assimilated, we risk giving the Borg a thirty year advantage in their battle for supremacy over this galaxy."

Horror diffused over the Captain's face as her innards twisted in dread. She'd previously accused her older self of being selfish, only to forget the big picture when she'd told her of tragedies that were yet to unfold, but could she with good conscience take such a choice as changing time? The Admiral seemed so confident but the Janeway that lived in the present couldn't say she shared that undoubting sense of purpose, after all, wasn't the road to hell paved with good intentions? She looked to Tuvok for reassurance, "How do you suggest we proceed then Commander?" she asked shakily.

Tuvok returned her gaze steadily as he stood. "We should analyse all of our current options."

Janeway smiled grimly in agreement. "I never have been one for putting all of my eggs in one basket."

* * *

><p>The eye-catching flicker of Astrometrics' lights did just as it was intended and pulled Seven's attention gratefully away from the depressing study of the Borg transwarp conduit to the doorway. She allowed her tired face to form an apologetic smile as she saw Chakotay enter, "We will have to postpone our dinner date…" She gestured towards the multitude of detailed scans which covered the viewscreen, "I'm sorry."<p>

He shook his head hurriedly, "_DON'T WORRY._" He assured her kindly, a wry, knowing smile passing over his lips as he observed her workload. "I guessed you'd have a lot on your plate today, although from what the Admiral says it'll all be worth it."

Seven couldn't restrain an apprehensive sigh. "The Captain seems less sure of the outcome." She replied tightly.

Chakotay ran his hand soothingly up her arm, "I'm sure we'll get through it either way." His eyes exuded a calm certainty which made Seven relax a little despite herself. Seeing the change, he wrapped an arm comfortably around her waist, ushering her closer. "If we do make it back to Earth, what do you want to do?"

Seven couldn't stop herself from flinching, lowering her gaze just enough so that she could still see his lips but avoid his earnest gaze. "I am uncertain…" She admitted, having to gulp hard to summon words from her suddenly dry throat, "I suppose Starfleet will want to debrief me…and then I'll have to find an appropriate position somewhere…"

Her voice had a note of fear in it Chakotay was unused to hearing, and he could feel her body shaking under his arm as she continued to avoid his gaze. A suspicion entered his mind and he lightly touched her cheek to bring her face upwards before kissing her warmly. "I'm still going to be with you, whatever happens." He murmured, pulling his face just far enough away from her to enable her to read his lips.

Seven released a rush of breath she hadn't been aware of holding. The weight of that unconscious but powerful fear lifted and the tension that had kept her stiff in his arms evaporated. More relieved than she would ever vocally admit, she let herself rest her head on his shoulder. "Thank you." She finally mumbled into his uniform. She smiled in surprise when he lifted her face to his again a few minutes later, his eyes burning with a love that made her heart race and melt at the same time, but his smile was tight with nerves that hadn't been there before. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern.

He didn't reply directly as he looked down at her, "Whether we get back to Earth or not…" He began, pausing to gulp, "I'd like you to be my wife."

Seven felt her breath catch raggedly in her throat, her legs suddenly like water beneath her as she tried to ascertain the probability of her reading that last sentence wrong. "What?" she asked dumbly, flushing with embarrassment, she couldn't risk interpreting these words incorrectly!

His face quivered in a nervous laugh. "_WILL YOU MARRY ME_?" he signed clearly.

Seven had to hold onto the console for support as she stared up at him, still hardly daring to hope. "Really?" she whispered, so quietly he almost couldn't hear her. She gasped as his arms encircled her again, although loosely this time, as he nodded firmly. "Yes…yes, of course I will!" She exclaimed, coming back to her senses and letting all her inhibitions go, coiling herself tightly around him to kiss him as passionately as she could.

Eventually they had to break for air, Chakotay now grinning from ear to ear and utterly relaxed once more, an expression Seven mirrored with equal fervour. "Well, even if nothing comes of the Admiral's plan, things are going to change for the better." He told her happily.

Seven felt a chill of panic run over her as she remembered the other suspected change, "Yes, I think they will…" She began to choke out.

Chakotay peered at her anxiously, very aware of the abrupt change in atmosphere. Seven suddenly looked as petrified as he knew he had a few minutes before. He stepped back from her to give himself room to sign, "_WHAT IS IT HONEY?_"

Seven watched his hands briefly before her eyes fixed on the floor, her chest heaving and her hands clenched. "I…I think I…might be pregnant…"

Chakotay felt his chest constrict in disbelief. "_Pregnant_?" he echoed hoarsely, then signed the question for clarity. A bemused smile split his face as she nodded, although he had to take her by the shoulders to make her lift her eyes to see it. "How? I thought that was impossible… What did the Doctor…" He trailed off as he remembered she'd said "might be". "_THE DOCTOR DOESN'T KNOW DOES HE_?" He signed, trying to keep calm as she shook her head.

"_NO_." She answered, colouring in shame. "I haven't even scanned myself." She admitted.

"Why not?" Chakotay asked in exasperation before taking a breath to calm himself. "What made you suspect it if you haven't checked in any way?"

Seven's jaw tightened, her voice becoming increasingly distraught. "The Queen told me!" she cried out, "It was part of her threat, to assimilate my child before it even had a chance to really exist…"

Understanding dawned on Chakotay and he immediately pulled her shivering form against him. "She's not going to do anything…" He muttered determinedly into her hair, sighing when he remembered she couldn't hear him and instead stroking her face as he tilted it up. "She won't get anywhere near you, or any of us, I promise."

Seven gulped, desperate to believe him even as her hard gained experience told her that such a promise was impossible to keep. "You're not angry with me for not telling you of the possibility immediately?" she whispered fearfully.

He rubbed soothing circles in her back with his palm. "No." He answered with a sigh. "Considering the source of the suspicion I can't blame you for doubting it." In his mind, the only one he was furious with was the Borg Queen for making what should have been a happy discovery extremely traumatic for Seven. "_BUT WE REALLY NEED TO GO SEE THE DOCTOR_." He pressed, "_I NEED TO KNOW YOU'RE OKAY."_

Seven breathed a quavering sigh of relief. "_I KNOW_." She replied, making for the door just as it opened to reveal Admiral Janeway.

"I need you to put up the proposed flight plan through the conduit Seven." She ordered briskly, "I think I've thought of a way to speed up the trip…"

Seeing the seriousness on her face, Seven decided it would be wise to obey and was about to turn to her console to proceed when Captain Janeway strode in. "Belay that order Seven, just put up the most detailed scan of the conduit we have. We need to know what we're dealing with here."

"I've already _told_ you what we're dealing with." The Admiral interrupted peevishly, "We'll be fine."

"I'd like to be the judge of that." The Captain responded coldly, "I need to assess my options before jumping into anything."

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/n: I've commandeered my mum's laptop to write, but hers isn't the easiest to use so my updates will be erratic until I can get hold of a new charger. I hope you all like this chapter.**

"There are no other options to assess!" Admiral Janeway hissed caustically at her counterpart, her frustrated glare deepening as the Captain regarded her stonily.

"Not in your mind perhaps, but I have some questions I'd like to have answered." She replied coolly with a measured glance at Tuvok as Harry entered Astrometrics with Tom trailing reluctantly behind him. "Where's B'Elanna Tom?" The Captain asked quickly, scanning the room and hallway for her engineer.

Harry gave said engineer's nervously smiling husband a reassuring pat on the back, "Didn't you hear Captain? B'Elanna went into labour!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The Captain allowed the stress of the last few hours to lift somewhat as real happiness wormed its way back into her heart. "That's wonderful news..." She said in a quiet but delighted tone as she gave Tom's shoulder a supportive squeeze, "Congratulations Tom. Is she okay with you being here?"

Tom breathed a tired chuckle, "Oh yes, Captain. She was...insistent. To be honest I think she hates my guts right about now."

Chakotay couldn't help a sympathetic grimace as he glanced anxiously over at Seven, his previous elation at her news overwhelmed with sudden fear. What if... Seven was completely unaware of him however, her attention focused on the conversation which interchanged rapidly between sets of lips while occasionally flickering back to the data on her console.

The Admiral gave a soft laugh, "Oh no, Tom. She'll be fine. Although..." She cast the Captain a pointed look, "...I'm sure we'd all be happier if your daughter wasn't born anywhere in range of Borg Cubes, so we'd better hurry up."

Seven saw the Captain's cheeks pinch inwards in a sharp intake of breath and decided it was time to step in. "What data covering the transwarp conduit do you wish to see Captain?"

The Admiral positioned herself directly in front of Seven. "Just my suggested flight plan."

Seven thankfully caught the Captain's resolute shake of her head before she obeyed. "_NO._" She signed, "_PUT UP A MAP OF THE ENTIRE NETWORK."_

"Of course." Seven answered politely, ignoring the Admiral's exasperated expression. Quickly, she brought up as much of the green maze of the Borg's transport network as she could fit on the viewscreen. "Here is the entirety of this conduit's system shrunk by 100 times to be readable on the screen." She explained before pointing to the main tangled knot of warp trails, "That is what we can see outside, the main entry point to the system in the Delta Quadrant."

The others, excepting the Admiral who'd seen this so frequently it haunted her dreams, studied the diagram in awe. "It must stretch throughout the galaxy!" Tom exclaimed, "All four quadrants..."

"Only one matters." The Admiral broke in sharply.

"This must be a huge asset for the Collective. No wonder hardly anyone can withstand an invasion. They could call in reinforcements from anywhere..." Chakotay muttered in disgust.

Seven heaved a remorseful sigh, "Precisely. The conduits are not only an asset, they are essential to the Collective's continued expansion."

"Continued expansion..." The Captain whispered painfully before tapping Seven's shoulder, "How could we destroy it?"

Seven's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment before the Captain's deadly serious expression confirmed her improbable words. "Well..." She considered, thinking hard as she pulled up the Admiral's proposed flight plan back to the Alpha Quadrant, "The Admiral's plan asks for one part of the conduit to be destroyed by torpedoes before we use it to travel to the Alpha Quadrant, but if we waited and destroyed two, damaging a third, the whole system would collapse in on itself."

"Stop this!" The Admiral shouted, slamming her fist into the console, "This is a mute point, if you collapse the conduit, Voyager will lose its chance to return home!" She watched her old crew's saddened but resigned features, "Don't you understand?" she asked shrilly.

"Of course we do!" Captain Janeway retorted heatedly, "We have the chance to deliver a crushing blow to the Borg, stop the assimilation of millions, and protect the Federation!"

"That's a battle for another day..." The Admiral began to argue angrily, but as she saw the determined set of her old friends faces, she gasped out a broken sigh, "Fine!" she snapped and fled the room.

The Captain couldn't quite suppress an upset shudder at the manner of her future self's departure. Certainly she could understand her reaction, had even expected it, but had she really lost her sense of perspective to such a degree to contemplate leaving the Borg to continue their destruction? She scanned the familiar faces around her apprehensively, "Are you all happy to get to work on this plan?" she asked quietly, "It's voluntary of course. I won't do it without your support..."

Her crew exchanged glances, but it was Chakotay who spoke for them all. "We understand Captain. We'll get to work."

Tom shrugged, flashing his trademark witty smile momentarily, "What are a few more years here when we can get the satisfaction of giving the Borg a bloody nose?"

* * *

><p>Within a few minutes, Chakotay and Seven once again found themselves alone in Astrometrics. Although both were well aware that Chakotay was expected to take his place on the Bridge, for the moment he was blatantly ignoring that duty. "<em>ARE YOU ALRIGHT WITH THIS?<em>" he asked her, his face both gentle and worried.

Seven shot him a questioning look, "If anyone should be eager to stop the Borg's crimes it should be me." She told him sharply, allowing her face to reveal her guilt to him. "This will be successful and the ship shall carry on as planned I suppose." She said somewhat tiredly, looking up at him sympathetically, "I'm sorry about Earth..."

"It was always a long shot." Chakotay replied painfully as he squeezed her hand, grateful for her acknowledgement. "And anyway, life isn't going so badly here is it?" he reminded her with a small, teasing smile.

"No, it's not." Seven agreed warmly, giving him a soft kiss which she reluctantly broke when he tried to deepen and prolong it. "You'd better go..." She advised him regretfully, "You are expected on the Bridge."

"I _expect_ you to come to Sickbay with me so you can get checked out." He argued with a frown.

Seven glanced up at the, for now, ever present lights which showed a current "red alert". "Let's wait until this is over..." She started.

"Seven..." Chakotay began to interrupt in exasperation.

"_PLEASE._" She pressed, sighing as his frown deepened in hurt and disapproval, "It isn't...safe to deal with that right now." She pointed out before a small smile graced her features, "Anyway, if I am, my condition won't change while you're on duty."

Chakotay couldn't help but grin a little at that. "No, I suppose it won't." He agreed reluctantly before giving her an intense kiss. "_YOU'LL BE CAREFUL THOUGH WON'T YOU?_" he signed as he pulled back.

"I will be." She assured him gently, kissing him again before he left without another word needed.

* * *

><p>Seven was beginning to regret her decision not to visit the Doctor as she slowly made her way to the Cargo Bay for some additional data, the nausea that had visited periodically for days was now gnawing at her with little sign of leaving. She doubted the hologram would offer her much relief however, if it was the probable embryo within her causing this and not just nerves, she'd overheard enough of the Doctor's lectures to B'Elanna about pregnancy symptoms being natural phenomenon which must just be tolerated to know she'd get the same speech. She finally reached the Cargo Bay and walked distractedly to the console, her concentration affected by a slight dizziness. When she stared down at the console her eyes blurred uncomprehendingly but as she grasped the corner of the console for support she was shocked by who she saw standing at the very limits of vision. Barely able to choke back a cry of surprise, she could feel startled breaths fleeing her chest even as she calmed herself, eyeing the intruder warily. "I did not realise you were there Admiral." She muttered tightly, "The mechanism to warn me of new arrivals must be malfunctioning."<p>

The Admiral had the grace to appear sheepish as she heard the suspicion in Seven's tone. "It's not, I followed you in." She explained.

Seven bristled, "Please alert me to your presence next time." She replied reproachfully.

"I'm sorry; I was just trying to decide how to approach you with this…" The Admiral said, avoiding her gaze.

Seven frowned, normally she found the Captain's, and thus the Admiral's, lip patterns quite easy to read, but now they barely moved and her whole face seemed strained. "Approach me in regards to what?" she asked tersely.

The Admiral's posture straightened, meeting her eyes firmly, certainty and a measure of defiance returning to her. "_I NEED YOU TO TELL THE CAPTAIN THIS PLAN WON'T WORK. THE ONLY CHOICE IS TO RETURN TO THE ALPHA QUADRANT."_

Seven stared at her for a few seconds, though she had followed her signing perfectly. "I cannot do that Admiral." She finally answered icily, "She is my superior officer. I won't disobey her."

The Admiral sighed heavily; she had forgotten that Seven tended to have bad timing with her spurts of loyalty. "I…appreciate that." She said slowly, "But you do not understand what it will mean for you if you continue on this path…"

Seven began to back away slightly, her feelings of distrust solidifying. "This "path" as you call it will lead to the Borg being disabled, perhaps even ultimately defeated!" she retorted passionately.

The Admiral's expression hardened, "_THAT'S SELFISH!"_ she signed, the movements sharp and impatient.

Seven felt her mouth drop open in disbelief. "Selfish?" she echoed incredulously in speech, "How can you call saving millions from assimilation _selfish_?" she cried out hoarsely, her voice wobbling in pitch and volume along with her tumultuous emotions without her realising.

"Millions of strangers!" The Admiral answered sharply, her face contorting in frustration. "You're forgetting Seven, that I've known you longer than you've known yourself. Let go of whatever guilt you feel you have about being a drone and think of your future! Your husband, your unborn child…"

Seven swallowed back a wave of bile as her world began to sway unnervingly. "What…" she started to force out, then clamped her lips shut as everything around her began to blur and roll, it felt as if she was on an ancient sailing ship being tossed around in a storm than on a state of the art starship. "_WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?_" she eventually managed to sign shakily.

"_THEY DIE._" The Admiral signed back shortly, now standing right beside her, "_YOU, CHAKOTAY_…" She paused to gesture to Seven's slim figure, "_THIS CHILD AND THE NEXT ONE…_"

Seven knew in the back of mind that she was hyperventilating, but she couldn't seem to stop. Her vision was so disorientated she couldn't make out what the Admiral was signing or saying anymore and didn't care. "You've…changed the timeline; it doesn't need to happen…" She mumbled, "If we do your plan then assimilation is likely…" She stopped with a gasp as the Admiral seized her shoulder, who then tearfully shook her head before abruptly leaving the room. Seven felt her knees buckle as beneath her as soon as the Admiral let her go and promptly emptied her stomach of its meagre contents into an empty container before curling up and starting to cry painfully in private.

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I'm sorry if it was rushed at the end, I need to get off this computer for now.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/n: I'm sorry about the total lack of updates over the weekend. I was really tired so I took a break. I hope this chapter helps to make up for my laziness!**

Seven's muscles sent shooting pains of complaint up her nerves as she tentatively uncurled from her foetal position on the cold, unyielding Cargo Bay floor. She ignored them stubbornly as she forced herself to stand; just glad that the violent, uncontrollable churn of her sickened stomach had dulled to an intermittent nauseous ache, unpleasant though it was she was functional again. Still, she had to put one steadying hand on a nearby container for a moment as she rose, taking an irritated swipe at the hot, insidious tears staining her face with the back of her other hand as she did so. However, even as she worked to remove every trace of her inner turmoil from her face with the help of water, soap and makeup, she couldn't really regret the brief emotional vent crying had given her; she _did _feel marginally better or at least more able to cope. She knew better than anyone that even if she were to allow herself to cry forever the dilemma that caused them would still be lying in wait, ready to strike. Admiral Janeway had simplified it to her thus; her family or revenge against the Borg, but Seven couldn't see it as revenge, not for herself. Dealing a blow to the Borg wouldn't help _her_, but it would save so many others and she'd spent too many years relearning compassion and carrying guilt that she was unable to dismiss those strangers as irrelevant. It almost seemed that the Admiral wanted that ruthlessly pragmatic drone she'd once been to resurface, put herself and her small Collective of Voyager first…

She scrunched her eyes closed at the thought, her hands tightening painfully into fists as she tried to shut it out. Casting an embarrassed eye down at the mess her bout of vomiting had left her Cargo Bay in; she set to cleaning it up, a more productive task than brooding to be sure. Yet, even as she scrubbed the floor to sparkling on her hands and knees questions fought their way back into her mind. What about Chakotay and their future family? If she did nothing, the Admiral was certain they would all perish… Her hand left the sponge she was gripping and pressed lightly against her as yet unchanged abdomen guiltily, the thought of giving life only to knowingly snatch it away made the tears instantly return to her eyes but she blinked them back with a sigh. She felt as if she were being pulled in two directions or crushed between two walls. Was this the way the Captain felt when she was faced with a weighty decision that affected her crew? If so, then Seven herself often hadn't made those decisions any easier with her Borg tunnel vision. She found her pager, the metal device felt slick in her sweat dampened hand, and stared down at it indecisively. The Captain, and Chakotay for that matter, would expect her to come to them with this information; she didn't have a right to deal with this on her own, no matter what the Admiral said. Swallowing down her doubts, she pressed her comm. badge, "Seven of Nine to the Captain." She didn't wait for the Captain's usual greeting, instead continuing straight away, "I must discuss something with you, it concerns the Admiral."

She waited impatiently as Janeway's spoken reply was translated to the written word on the pager's tiny screen, "Okay Seven, I'll see you in my Ready Room right away."

Seven had to take a deep breath as she read this confirmation. There was no going back now. "Chakotay must also be included." She told the Captain firmly. Part of her shied away from repeating to Chakotay what the Admiral had told her about their future, it would probably hurt him more than her, but selfishly she longed for his comfort.

"He'll be there." The Captain replied through the pager.

"Thank you." Seven replied automatically before hastily cutting the comm. line and walking shakily from the Cargo Bay to face her fate.

* * *

><p>Chakotay gave a start as he saw Seven enter the Ready Room where he stood waiting with the Captain. She had managed to maintain that habitual stoic mask which generally deflected people's interest in her, but after their few months together, he could read the subtleties of her expressions as well as she could read his lips. Her eyes, although focused and unflinching, were red and puffy around the rims and her complexion was grey, the skin taunt with anxiety. "What's wr…" He started to gasp out, and then stopped himself. She'd tell them.<p>

Seven had seen the question forming urgently on his lips and couldn't help but feel relieved as the words stopped flowing. She tried to summon up the most reassuring smile she could for him under the circumstances and was rewarded by him relaxing slightly. The Captain however, wasn't about to relax anytime soon as she looked at her ashen faced protégé and recalled her future self's dark prophecy. "_YOU DON'T LOOK WELL SEVEN." _She signed anxiously, "_WHAT'S WRONG?_"

"I'm not ill Captain." Seven assured her quietly, shooting Chakotay a quick glance, "I believe I am suffering from morning sickness but that is not what I came here to discuss…"

She saw that they weren't listening to her after the words "morning sickness" came out of her mouth. Chakotay eyes immediately fixed on her intently, bright as stars as a beaming smile tugged at his mouth. If she hadn't known him better she would've thought he would've whooped in delight as Tom Paris had done in a similar situation. The pride that radiated from him was enough to warm her heart enough to withstand the panic that instantly shot across the Captain's face before she hid it. "Morning…" The Captain started to repeat before the exclamation died on her lips. "What did the Doctor say Seven?" she asked finally as she watched Chakotay hug Seven protectively into his side and felt guilt burrow deep into her gut.

Seven averted her gaze for a moment, "I haven't seen the Doctor as yet. The Borg Queen and Admiral Janeway both informed me separately of my condition."

Chakotay frowned at his fiancée in confusion. "The Admiral?"

The younger Janeway instantly cringed, "What did she tell you Seven?"

Seven felt tears and nausea build within her again but she resisted both. "She…She informed that in her future, myself, Chakotay…and our children are all going to die." She found she couldn't bear to look at Chakotay and instead cut herself off from their reactions by staring at the floor as she spoke again, "The Admiral…requested that I lie to you about the viability of your plan to destroy the transwarp conduit so that we would use it as she wishes." She unconsciously began to wring her hands as she looked into their horrified faces again, "I…I couldn't make such a decision…"

The Captain clamped her hand to her mouth for a moment, feeling sick herself, then remembered Seven's deafness and lowered it, although her whole body still shook with distress. "Oh my God, I'm sorry Seven, she never should've put you in that position. I should've dealt with it…"

"You_ knew_ about this?" Chakotay exploded, "You knew that we were going to…"

"Yes, that's what she confronted me with, deaths!" The Captain retorted brokenly, "Not just yours but others too and Tuvok…" She stopped as Chakotay and Seven stared at her, desperate to explain, "I thought that if I knew I could stop it from happening. The transwarp conduit could kill us all now…"

Seven, though she had struggled to get every word of this exchange, understood her dilemma as the same as her own earlier and put a calming and restraining hand on Chakotay's arm as she said, "We know you'd do everything in your power to keep your crew safe Captain, that is unquestionable." She said firmly, "The problem is, what are we going to do now?"

The truth of Seven's words began to sink in and Chakotay's anger faded slowly. He gave the Captain a compassionate, sorrowful look, "I'm sorry Kathryn. This isn't your fault, I just panicked…" He reached over to Seven beside him and squeezed her hand tightly.

Janeway's lips twitched bitterly, "It's not my fault, _yet_." She reminded him, "You were completely within your rights to be angry, she's playing with all our lives, whether her intentions are good or not."

Chakotay sighed heavily, "We're still left to deal with it though. I can't say it wouldn't be good to get home now like she says, especially given what we know now, but the Borg…" He glanced at Seven unhappily, feeling like he was betraying her for not immediately dismissing everything else to get her, and their baby, back to the Alpha Quadrant and safety.

Seven however nodded in agreement. "I also feel deeply uncomfortable about ignoring the chance to damage the Borg Captain."

The Captain grimaced, "Neither of our current options appeals to me either…" She muttered in frustration before her eyes lit up suddenly and she snapped her fingers, "We need a way to have our cake and eat it too…"

Seven felt her frown deepen as she studied the Captain's fluidly speaking mouth. Utterly confused by what she read, she allowed herself a quick glance at Chakotay for clarification. "_METAPHOR_." He signed quickly in explanation.

Seven considered the Captain's point. "You are wondering if there is a way we can destroy the conduit while travelling through it Captain?"

Janeway gave her the ghost of a smile. "_PRECISELY_." She signed in reply before doubt creased her features, "_COULD THAT BE POSSIBLE?_"

Seven nodded firmly. "Certainly, it would just be highly difficult." She answered matter-of-factly.

"You're never one for understatement are you?" Chakotay commented fondly, kissing her cheek as hope returned to his heart.

"I suggest you ask the Admiral if she has considered the possibility while I investigate it from a scientific angle." Seven advised the Captain, who nodded.

"I think she's earned herself another conversation with me." The Captain agreed, looking to Chakotay for support, "Would you like to come as back up Commander?"

Chakotay's face darkened as he thought of the Admiral. "Definitely Captain."

"Good." Janeway was practically grinning as she settled on a plan of action. "Now you…" She met Seven's gaze kindly, "Try not to worry. If this works out, not only your but also B'Elanna's baby will be born safe in the Alpha Quadrant."

**A/n: I'm not overly pleased with this chapter. PLEASE REVIEW and tell me what you think! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

"Computer, locate Admiral Janeway." Chakotay ordered the Computer brusquely as he entered the turbolift on Captain Janeway's heels. Seven had already left for Astrometrics, even more determined than ever to find a solution to their dilemma now that she knew just how high the stakes were for her future family as well as the crew.

"Admiral Janeway is in Shuttle Bay 2." The Computer replied levelly after a pause both officers found excruciating.

"Shuttle Bay 2." Captain Janeway commanded the turbolift sharply, closing her eyes briefly as she tried to prepare herself, conjure up what she could _possibly _say to her aged alter ego.

"She must be down with that ship of hers. God knows what she's planning to do, she must know by now that Seven hasn't done as she asked…" Chakotay muttered, his frustration with the situation growing increasingly evident. He'd pushed aside all of his personal concerns, smothered all of his fear, anger and resentment as they'd searched for a decisive path to follow in this tangled mess of present certainties and future threats, but he felt all of those hateful feelings begin to burn in him again as he waited to confront the instigator of all this.

The Captain must have read all of these conflicts in his face because her expression was tortured with anguish as she replied tightly, "Yes, she'll have realised. She knows Seven, knows all of us a little too well, whereas I…" In an uncharacteristic release of pent up emotion she lashed out abruptly at panels lining the turbolift and cringed as one buckled, "I don't know what she's doing at all, she is _me_ and I still have no idea." She admitted in a much quieter, almost devastated tone.

As he saw her avoid his gaze, Chakotay felt guilt clench around his gut. He'd been so wrapped up in his own concerns that he'd hadn't truly considered how utterly _betrayed_ the Captain must be feeling. If it was disturbing to be manipulated for someone else's unknown ends, for that was precisely what the Admiral had been doing to himself and Seven, then it must be crushing to know that that someone else was you. "I'm sorry Captain…"

Janeway shook her head stubbornly, "Don't be Chakotay; I brought this on myself by not bringing all of you into the loop. I left my crew open to emotional blackmail while I took everything on my shoulders, seven years on Voyager should have taught me more than that."

Chakotay looked down at her in understanding, "Like Seven and I both told you Captain, none of us blame you. We've trusted you to make the ultimate decision for long enough not to revoke that trust now." He said firmly, exhaling heavily through his teeth when he thought of just how blindly they'd walked into this, "This situation is unique, even for us." He added wryly, running a stressed hand through his short dark hair as the turbolift drew to a halt.

Janeway felt a weight come away from her shoulders as his words, coupled with Tuvok and Seven's earlier magnanimous assurances, eased the guilt she felt. She knew that guilt, of seeing her crew of friends suffer and die, was what had driven the Admiral to such extremes but that knowledge didn't mean she was going to let her older self off the hook. "I must say it was a shock to see some of the Admiral's predictions come to pass so quickly…" She commented warmly as the two of them stepped out onto the Shuttle Deck. "Congratulations Chakotay."

Chakotay smiled as her words brought his mind to the happiness of the present rather than anxiety for the future. "Thank you Kathryn. I expected to be the one to surprise Seven with my proposal, but I think she got one over on me with that news." He sighed wistfully at the memory from just a few hours ago, before any dark spots had tinged their joy with fear.

Janeway was surprised, and relieved, by now much delight she could still feel under the circumstances. "You're engaged?" She smirked knowingly at his nod, "Well, tell Seven I forbid any thoughts of eloping. I deserve to be able to use my Captain's ability to conduct a wedding at least once before this voyage ends."

Chakotay gave her arm a brief squeeze of friendly support as he heard the uncertainty at the end of her sentence. "It _will_ end Captain, with the Admiral's help or not, we'll get home." He looked at her seriously, "You're going to have to believe that if you stand any chance of negotiating with her."

The Captain gritted her teeth together, "Negotiation isn't the word for how I'm going to speak to her…"

The bleep of their two comm. badges simultaneously interrupted her and Tom Paris' voice came loudly through, "Captain, Commander, another transwarp conduit has formed in the hub and Borg activity is increasing, what do you want us to do?"

Chakotay and Janeway exchanged alarmed glances before Chakotay tapped his comm. badge firmly, "I'm on my way back up to the Bridge now Tom, hold steady until I get there." He saw the Captain's grateful look and gave her a small smile. It was probably for the best, he knew better than most that no one could argue with Kathryn Janeway except herself, and his presence would no doubt muddy already complicated waters, since he knew he'd lose his temper again if he was confronted with the woman who'd held the deaths of his children over his pregnant fiancée's head… "Good Luck Captain." He said quickly as he stepped back into the turbolift that would return him to his proper place on the Bridge.

"I think we'll all need it Commander." Janeway agreed softly as the turbolift doors closed.

* * *

><p>"So you're here to confront me?" The Admiral questioned bluntly without turning away from her small ship's console as Captain Janeway entered alone. "I can't say I didn't expect it by now, I should've known Seven couldn't lie to you, let alone to Chakotay."<p>

"You're right, she couldn't." The Captain answered icily, "I for one, respect her for it."

The Admiral stiffened at her judgemental tone and finally spun around in her chair, with surprising agility, to face her younger self. "What is it exactly you want from me Captain?" she asked bitingly, "I offered you a way out of hell and you refuse to take it." Her voice became increasingly tart, almost burning with contempt, "Seven years ago, you followed your principles and stranded your crew. Now, once again your anointed _principles_…" She spat out the word as if it were poison, "…are going to condemn your crew to death!"

Captain Janeway found that her anger propelled her forward until she was almost toe-to-toe with her ravaged mirror image, "Who are you to talk about the pointlessness of principles?" she retorted, "You certainly need some, you've been playing with us as if we're pieces on a chess board, manipulating my crew in a way the Borg Queen would be proud of, can't you see why I'm so reluctant to abandon my principles when I'm faced with you?"

The Admiral grimaced as her words hit home, blinking painfully for a few moments before she asked quietly, "If you despise my methods so much, what do you want with me?"

The Captain swallowed at the resentment in her tone, but forced herself to roll with the punches as she knelt down beside her older self, looking at her emphatically, "I need to know whether you considered other plans, plans that would allow us to both destroy the hub and get Voyager back home…"

"You want a way to eat your cake and have it too?" The Admiral interrupted with a hint of a knowing smile passing over her lips, "I'm sorry, but I've considered that. There's no way to destroy the hub and get Voyager through, there's not enough time to do both, the Borg are too quick."

The Captain slammed her hand against the console in frustration. "God, when did you become such a cynic?" she exclaimed in exasperation, "There has to be some way to distract the Borg, some way you've not considered…"

"Distract the…" The Admiral began incredulously, but as she thought about it realisation dawned slowly on her face as she looked around her shuttle and then back at her younger, more invigorated self. "You might just be onto something Captain."

* * *

><p>The Admiral winced slightly at the sting as she pressed the hypospray the Doctor had provided her with into her neck, but the pain was minor compared to the satisfaction she felt as she piloted her stalwart little ship towards the nearest Borg Cube using her neural interface, her final mission was almost complete… Her own voice interrupted her thoughts, "Everything is ready on our side, Godspeed Admiral." Captain Janeway told her remorsefully over the comm. system.<p>

She smiled at her reassuringly, "You too Captain, good luck." She paused before deciding one more thing needed to be said. "It was good getting to know you again Captain, I'd forgotten more than I realised about our crew, and about myself."

The Captain gave her an identical smile back, "In hindsight, I'll hopefully be glad you came Admiral."

"You will." The Admiral confirmed with a short laugh as she clicked the comm. system off and waited for the Cube to tractor her in.

* * *

><p>The Queen's black, all seeing eyes shot open as she heard her Collective informing her of a new acquisition, the ship of the future Admiral Janeway. If surprise hadn't been declared irrelevant a long time ago she would have felt it then. "So Admiral…" She murmured, "You've decided to surrender to our perfection…"<p>

A brittle laugh hit the ears she shared with billions. "I wouldn't say that." A familiar voice declared coolly as the Queen's head spun on her shoulders to see an older version of that human irritant, Janeway, standing beside her.

"Then what exactly brings you here…" Her eyes swept up the small human in assessment, "…Admiral?"

"I've come to propose a deal…" The Admiral began calmly, as if she spoke with the Collective every day of her life, "I'm sure you have my ship by now, just like I'm also sure you can't access its future technology without _my_ codes." She smirked as she saw the Queen pause, confirming her speculation, "I'm willing to give them to you, _if_ you let Voyager travel to the Alpha Quadrant unharmed."

The Queen's eyes narrowed, all of the Collective's assessments on Janeway's psychology told her that this was false. "We do not need you to _give_ us anything." She reminded the insolent human coldly, striding forward to plunge her assimilation tubules into Janeway's neck, but they hit nothing but a hologram. "Impossible…"

The Admiral's eyebrows rose in amusement, "Maybe for the present. You see, I'm not really here. I'm still locked in my ship, using my neural to project my image here. Isn't such technology worth Voyager's safe passage?"

The Queen stared at her unblinkingly, "We do not believe the hallowed Kathryn Janeway would ever assist us."

The Admiral sighed, "What can I say? I've become something of a pragmatist in my old age, all I want is to get my crew home safely."

It was the Queen's turn to appear almost amused, "Oh?" She turned to the screen showing her the inside of her transwarp hub, "Voyager may travel through our hub, with an escort."

"Unacceptable!" The Admiral snapped immediately.

The Queen stepped closer, peering at her intently, "_Compromise_ is what all pragmatists do best is it not Admiral?"

"Not to that extent!" The Admiral retorted, "I didn't go through all this just to get my crew assimilated on Earth's doorstep!"

"Well then, you are too late to prevent that, for yourself at least." The Queen said nonchalantly. When she saw the Captain frown in disbelief, she explained, "You underestimate us Admiral, while we have been conversing, every drone in the Collective has been working to pinpoint the position of your neural transceiver…"

The Admiral's eyes widened in horror, "What…" Her voice cut off as the hologram disappeared to be replaced by her real body, transported to the exact spot. She didn't even have time to cry out as the Queen herself deployed a huge injection of nanoprobes into her neck.

"Now there is no deal Admiral…" The Queen started, only to freeze as a near forgotten sensation, pain, surged up her cybernetic systems from the assimilation tubules that had just retracted from Janeway's pale flesh. "What…have you…done to us?" she snarled at Janeway's slumped form as the agony of countless drones entered her brain, "An…_infection_?"

"Yes…" The Admiral coughed, clutching her body as nanoprobes set her blood on fire and implants began to erupt from her skin. "Ingenious isn't it? The…Doctor is quite…the perfectionist…"

"My drones… I cannot hear them…" The Queen whispered weakly, suddenly speaking in singular as her own body began to fail. "Why? You will die with us…"

"I told you…Voyager…" The Admiral laughed heartily, her chest heaving, as the arm the Queen send flying out to strike her fell out of the soulless woman's shoulder socket to crash to the floor, fingers wiggling plaintively. "Who's assimilating who now?"

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I'm sorry for taking nearly two months to update this, I find Janeway really hard to write and I'm still not fully satisfied with her conversations with Chakotay or the Admiral. I hope I redeemed myself with the Queen's destruction though! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/n: I'm sorry for pretty much abandoning the site for a few days; I've been recovering from a bad cold. I hope this chapter makes up for the lack of updates! :)**

Captain Janeway grunted in pain as Voyager rolled to port, throwing her sideways so that she collided with her chair rather than managing to fall into it. "How much longer Tom?" She shouted to her pilot as she struggled to steady herself.

"From what navigation is telling me, we should reach the exit for the Alpha Quadrant in two minutes Captain!" Tom replied hurriedly, "That is…" He swerved violently, practically flipping the ship onto its side, as a Borg Sphere zoomed past them. "…if we don't meet any Borg sized obstacles!" He finished breathlessly.

Janeway didn't give herself time to ponder the near miss, instead turning to address Seven, "Is the Admiral's plan working?" she asked desperately.

Seven's lip-reading skills had been severely compromised by the activity around her that verged on chaos, but the word "Admiral" allowed her to guess. "I assume that the virus must be taking hold as intended Captain. The vessels I am tracking are uncoordinated, their actions confused. If the Collective were fully intact we would have been destroyed by now."

The Captain nodded to her before turning back to the viewscreen. Like the good Starfleet Captain she was, despite everything going on around her she could still take in the wonder that was the transwarp conduit. Its blue-green walls seemed to be closing in on them further with every light-year travelled; it felt as if Voyager was being squeezed out a tube. It encircled them, as if they had been swamped by an all-powerful wave, pulling them towards their goal as the tide pulls out the sea. She could see that Seven was right, many of the Cubes and Spheres were frozen in place, waiting for orders from their Queen which would hopefully never come. She glanced towards an equally transfixed Chakotay, "Looks like we managed to set a fire under the Borg, they're running…" She murmured in amazement.

"Let's hope we don't get caught in the blaze…" Chakotay muttered in reply, tension evident in his every muscle as Tom narrowly avoided some haphazard phaser fire from a badly damaged Cube.

"Captain!" Harry Kim exclaimed loudly from his station. "Sensors are picking up what's happening in the Delta Quadrant!"

"On screen!" The Captain ordered, gasping in disbelieving astonishment as the picture of their route ahead gave way to the scene taking place behind them. The network of Borg vessels that had seemed so formidable, that had been weaved around the transwarp conduit like a hellish spider's web, was aflame. The tiny blind spot Seven had found for them to slip through during the Admiral's distraction of the Collective was now a gaping hole, vessels flew around in aimless confusion or hung in space, deactivated. The most shocking scene however, was the central Cube, the heart of the hive as it were, into which the Admiral had disappeared only minutes before. What had once seemed indestructible now drifted away, a coffin in space, with minor explosions blighting it until, finally, it exploded with a flash of light so bright that Seven was temporarily blinded. She was sure, from the way those around her flinched in pain, that the sound of the explosion had been just as violent but few, including her, could turn away as the explosions ricocheted around every ship in a cascade effect, turning the black vacuum of space blood red with fire for seconds at a time. Her relief was immense, more than she could have imagined. She'd repressed the fear of the Collective reclaiming her for years, but now she fully realised how much the shadow of the Collective had stalked her, how she'd always half expected to be snatched from the Voyager crew as she had from her parents. Despite this, she felt little joy or satisfaction on seeing the destruction. In fact, the satisfied expression which she saw flickering across some faces repulsed her. The Collective may be an insatiable evil, she knew that better than any of them, but the thousands of drones who'd just suffered horrible deaths were helpless victims. Unbidden, memories of the screams that had reverberated through the Collective mind in the brief instant before death assaulted her mind. She hated to think of the terror they had experienced in their final moments, cut off from the others and in agony… She tried to shake these thoughts away, looking back at the screen in time to see the Captain turn away and say, probably in a whisper, a prayer for her future counterpart. That made Seven feel a little less guilty about her pity and empathy for the drones, she supposed it was better that she still understood them, she'd never get completely rid of the drone in her mind.

"Lieutenant Paris!" She called out urgently, her focus moving back to the task at hand, "We will reach the conduit leading to the Alpha Quadrant in 30 seconds!"

Tom raised his hand from the console in an acknowledging gesture before veering the ship hard to the right and with one last push of the straining warp engines the transwarp conduit dissipated around them leaving only clear, starry space behind them and a large Starfleet flotilla in front.

"My God…" The Captain breathed, stumbling forward towards the viewscreen as if to touch the dreamed of image.

"Good flying Tom." Chakotay told the pilot as he also stood, heading for Seven until Harry's announcement stopped him in his tracks.

"Captain, we're being hailed on every frequency. It's Starfleet!" Harry reported joyfully.

"Open a channel." Janeway ordered urgently, mirroring Harry's grin as Admiral Owen Paris' face appeared on the viewscreen. "Admiral, you have no idea how good it is to see you."

"I think I do Kathryn, since we were expecting a Borg attack from that conduit!" Admiral Paris replied, staring at her in amazement, "How…"

Janeway laughed, suddenly looking ten years younger. "It'll all be in my report."

"That'll be one long report!" Tom quipped, pausing when he saw shock and hope light up his father's features. "Hi Dad." He murmured quietly.

"Tom…" The Admiral breathed. His voice thick with emotion and tears were visible in his eyes, "I can't believe you're…"

The beep of the Bridge's intercom system cruelly interrupted the reunion but the next sound made the disruption worthwhile, it was the howl of a newborn baby, something even the Doctor's powerful voice couldn't quite drown out, "Excuse me for the interruption Captain, but there's a new crewmember on board I think Lieutenant Paris would like to meet."

"He's on his way Doctor." The Captain replied warmly as Tom ran from the Bridge without a glance back, only having eyes for his new daughter. "You're a grandfather Admiral." She told the elder Paris with a smile.

"I can't wait to meet her." The Admiral replied honestly, "But it'll need to wait a day or so I'm afraid Captain."

Chakotay frowned at this new information as he was interpreting the news of Tom and B'Elanna's new arrival to Seven by sign. He didn't like that she was often left completely out of the loop in Bridge conversations, with the officers' backs to her she could only lip-read the Admiral but still managed to pipe up, "At full warp we are only six hours from Earth Admiral."

Paris looked a bit startled by the ex-Borg's intervention but the Captain backed her up, "Yes Admiral, why the delay? We've been waiting for seven years to see Earth and our families again!"

Admiral Paris was genuinely remorseful, "I'm sorry Kathryn, your arrival was wholly unexpected, if wonderful, not to mention through a Borg transwarp conduit. Starfleet have to make preparations for your debriefing and other issues…" He trailed off, obviously dissatisfied with the bureaucracy, "We do have to get the plans for your welcome home party in full swing after all." He added with a small smile.

The Captain quickly hid her wince of disappointment. "Can we at least talk to our families?"

"I'm sorry, not by comm. If you pass on letters I'll personally make sure they get there safe and sound before you arrive." The Admiral answered, shooting Janeway a truly sympathetic look, "I'm sorry Kathryn, it'll be 24 hours max. We're to escort you back."

"Of course Admiral." Janeway agreed politely, "We'd appreciate that." She turned to Ensign Coleman, who'd taken Tom's place at the comm., "Follow the fleet please Ensign."

"Yes Ma'am." Coleman answered obligingly.

The Captain took a deep breath as her eyes swept over everyone on her Bridge. "Well done everyone. We're finally home and it's because of the hard work of every single one of you." She went around everyone nearby sharing congratulations before she approached Seven more seriously. "Seven, I'm only asking this now because I know Starfleet is going to ask…" She explained after seeing Chakotay tense protectively by his new fiancée's side, "Have we dealt a death blow to the Borg today?" she asked in a low tone.

"A death blow?" Seven echoed for confirmation, pursing her lips pensively as the Captain nodded, "No Captain." She answered honestly, "But we have damaged them badly, they will take a long time to recover." Seeing Janeway and Chakotay's questioning looks she clarified, "The virus Admiral Janeway introduced will have infected any vessels within range of the transwarp conduit, millions of vessels admittedly, but those more distant will have been able to adapt and block the virus's transmission." She sighed resignedly, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted, "As long as there is a surviving drone Captain, there will be a Collective."

The Captain grimaced at Seven's despondent tone. "We've won a big battle today, the day _will_ come when we win the war." She assured her protégé firmly, smiling when she saw Chakotay squeeze Seven's hand supportively. She was forgetting how much they'd been through in the last few hours, just as much as she had. "_YOU'RE BOTH RELIEVED_." She signed decisively, _"I EXPECT YOU TO REPORT TO SICKBAY SEVEN, ONCE TOM AND B'ELANNA HAVE HAD THEIR TIME WITH THEIR NEW ARRIVAL_."

Seven flushed in embarrassment as she nodded but Chakotay was unabashedly grateful, gently pulling Seven towards the turbolift even as he said his thanks to the Captain. Before the turbolift doors even closed on him his attention was fixated on his fiancée, "_ARE YOU OKAY_?" he signed frantically.

Seven gazed up at him silently without immediately replying, unsure how to communicate the tumult of emotions she was feeling. Happiness was there of course, as were uncertainty and an irrational anxiety, but all was dominated by her love for him and an intense relief that, for now, she was free to feel it. Acting on a passionate, uncontrollable, impulse, she pulled his head down to hers by wrapping her arm around his neck, her fingers digging into his pleasantly warm skin as she kissed him with every ounce of strength she had and felt him respond just as fiercely. She reluctantly pulled back a few millimetres from his lips for air, "I love you." She whispered as she did so. She felt, rather than saw, his reply for in an instant his lips were back on hers, an arm snaking tightly around her waist to pull her flush against his muscular frame. He leaned back against the unmoving turbolift's closed doors to stay upright as they gave themselves over to ever more passionate kissing, barely pausing for air, but eventually they stopped, breathing hard, and Chakotay carefully tilted Seven's face up to look at him with one hand while still holding her to him with the other.

"I love you." He told her. Seven would never forget those words on his gentle lips, formed so emphatically and with such an adoring expression that Seven had to believe him as she sagged into him, pressing her face to his chest as traitorous tears that had fought to be shed for hours began to burn again in her eyes and she felt sobs begin to rattle her chest.

She remained quiet, but Chakotay could sense her turmoil as he rubbed soothing circles into her back and felt the hands gripping his uniform shake undeniably. He felt like a crushing weight had been lifted from him, he'd had to fight every instinct and emotional pull to put his professional duty to Voyager before confronting his own feelings about Admiral Janeway's revelations, not to mention comforting Seven and drawing the same support from her. Again he gently inclined her face upwards so he could see his lips, "It's going to be okay, we're fine now."

Seven swallowed as she felt his hand, stroking her cheek constantly, quivering. He'd also suffered a great deal but she still looked up at him seriously, "Are we doing the right thing? That future was so horrible, parts of it could still…"

Chakotay's hands moved to her shoulders. "We're already making a new future Seven." He kissed her forehead before pulling back to continue. "What we feel now is all that matters."

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I'm not sure about this chapter, I probably shouldn't write when I feel a bit ill if I want really quality chapters.**


	17. Chapter 17

"Look, she's yawning now!" Tom exclaimed in delight as he watched his new daughter Miral's delicate little mouth stretch wide open, her pink fingers slackening from around his large one as she wriggled sleepily in her layers of blankets.

B'Elanna smiled over at him indulgently, restraining her own tired yawn as she replied wryly, "I'm sure being born is just as tiring as giving birth."

Tom immediately lifted his head up from studying his daughter to give his wife a sweet kiss, "I'm sure you're right." He agreed softly, his fingers trailing fondly down the side of her face as he saw B'Elanna's gaze drop lovingly to the fussing baby still in his arms. "Thank you honey." He murmured sincerely as he carefully placed their daughter into her waiting arms. "She's wonderful, you're both better than I deserve."

B'Elanna shook her head firmly as she leaned into kiss him. "You're already the best father ever." She whispered as she cuddled the baby close.

"I don't know about that, it's only been an hour." The Doctor said in a nonchalant tone but with a teasing smile pulling at his lips.

"Give me time and I'll do something wrong, right Doc?" Tom retorted with eyebrows raised high.

"Maybe with your Sickbay duties that's the case…" The Doctor paused to scan the baby, stroking her downy head fondly, "But when it comes to fatherhood I think you'll be fine." He caught Tom's pleased, grateful grin and added, "Anyway, she can always come to her godfather if she's having any trouble."

B'Elanna patted the hologram's arm, hearing the emotion behind the words and feeling glad that they'd chosen him as godfather. "I'm sure she will Doctor." She told him honestly.

"What exactly are you planning to do, now that we're back in the Alpha Quadrant?" Tom asked the Doctor distractedly as he helped a stiff and sore B'Elanna reposition to nurse Miral.

The Doctor puffed his chest out slightly, "Well, initially I'll have to go through my medical files with Starfleet Medical, I did perform a number of unique procedures while I…" He was interrupted by Sickbay's doors opening for Seven and Chakotay.

"I was wondering when we were going to be inundated with visitors!" Tom joked, ushering the couple over to B'Elanna's biobed while grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Seven flushed awkwardly, taking Tom's comment seriously and looking at B'Elanna apologetically, "I understand if you do not wish to be disturbed Lieutenant…"

B'Elanna smiled at her reassuringly, sensing the other woman's nerves. "Don't worry; I'm happy to show her off. Come and see her quickly before I feed her."

Seven stiffened momentarily in surprise when B'Elanna gently but firmly placed the baby into her arms, she hadn't expected to be actually trusted with the child. Tom tapped her arm which, despite her mind going completely blank, was holding the baby with an instinctive ease. "She won't break Seven, you're okay."

Seven gave him a tight smile as she watched his lips form the words. "I hope so; I don't want to damage her…" She immediately glanced anxiously down at the baby, checking her face for any signs of pain or distress, and felt herself exhale in relief when she saw that the little girl was contented, her tiny brow ridges furrowed as her dark dewy eyes focused on the shining comm. badge Seven wore. She found herself smiling as she saw that, "It seems she has your interest in technology already Lieutenant." She lifted her gaze up from the baby just in time to see that her comment had sent laughter rippling over everyone else's faces.

"I hope so; I'm not ready to let her pilot a shuttle just yet." B'Elanna said, causing her husband's expression to become indignant.

"She's a Paris, _of course_ she'll fly!" He corrected her with another laugh.

"Hopefully with a better track record than her father." Chakotay remarked as he carefully took the baby from Seven.

"Excuse me; I think if you check your own Logs Commander you'll find that _I'm_ not the one famous for shuttle crashes!" Tom exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Chakotay, who laughed.

"Okay, okay, just because I've had a few unlucky away missions…" Chakotay admitted ruefully, stopping to hand the baby back to B'Elanna. Seven saw, as he handed Miral over, that the baby's face was now scrunched and red, she was probably crying. An icy shiver of fear came over her at the realisation that she'd only ever be able to _guess_ if her own baby was crying…

Something of what she was feeling must have shown on her face for Chakotay shot her a concerned look as he gave B'Elanna a quick congratulatory peck on the cheek and shook Tom's hand warmly. "Congratulations. She's beautiful and lucky to have the two of you as parents."

"Yes, congratulations." Seven echoed as Chakotay returned to her side, placing a reassuring hand on the small of her back as he addressed the Doctor.

"Doctor, can we talk to you in private?" he asked.

"Both of you?" The Doctor queried, and then seemed to remember his manners. "Of course, we'll go to my office."

Seven kept her head nervously bowed as the Doctor led them into his office, more a glass cubicle than anything, and only looked up when the Doctor waved his hand close to her face to get her attention. An effective method perhaps, but one that persisted to irritate her sense of personal space. "What can I do for you?" he asked when he was sure Seven was watching his lips. With his memory capacity immeasurable compared to a human, the Doctor was of course fluent in ASL, but he tended not to use it if he felt she was following him. This attitude sometimes made Seven think that he believed that she'd forget how to speak if he didn't constantly prompt her to.

This time she resisted, signing instead for the sake of privacy. "_I NEED YOU TO SCAN ME DOCTOR."_

"_ARE YOU ILL_?" He asked anxiously as he obligingly pulled out a tricorder, signing now as took the hint and starting to scan her before she could answer.

She watched his face for a cue and saw it when his eyes bugged out in shock. "I presume that the scan confirms that I'm pregnant?" she asked, hoping that her voice was quiet.

His eyes shot to her face in disbelief before narrowing accusingly as his gaze turned to Chakotay, "You knew?"

Seven saw Chakotay flinch at the Doctor's tone but he remained calm as he said, "Yes, we thought so." His chest moved in a deep breath and he squeezed her hand hard. "The Admiral told Seven as much."

"And you didn't think to come to _me _when you heard that?" The Doctor said, frustration evident in his expression. "As the Chief Medical Officer on this ship…" Seven didn't get any more of that sentence, the Doctor's face kept twisting in and out of her line of vision as he paced around the office and he was speaking quickly. She did catch one full word which she read as "irresponsible" and another, ending in "ous" which she had to assume, from the way Chakotay grimaced, was "dangerous".

"I would never purposely put Seven in danger…" Chakotay began to retort heatedly but Seven put a hand on his arm to stop him and walked up to the Doctor, whose back was to her.

"Doctor, I did not intentionally keep my pregnancy from you." She said coldly as she grabbed him by the arm to make him face her again. "Receiving that information from the Admiral, and the Borg Queen for that matter…" She stopped as a lump rose in her throat and saw the Doctor's face fall in horror at this new information, but soon continued, "…was very difficult for me. The future that was being portrayed for my family was not…" Her explanation was halted this time by the Doctor taking her hands, looking mortified and embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." He told her obviously sincere as he dropped her hands to sign the phrase too. "I was…insensitive to the situation of the past few days." He turned to Chakotay, "You have my apologies too of course Commander."

"Apology accepted Doctor." Chakotay assured him graciously as he slipped an arm around Seven's waist. "I want to know why you're so worried, I don't want Seven's health at risk."

"Chakotay…" Seven began to argue but the Doctor's next words made her pause.

"I'm worried because I don't know what to expect." The Doctor admitted honestly, his shoulders slumping, "A former drone has never been pregnant before, I can only guess as to the effect the cybernetic systems would have on the baby and vice versa."

Chakotay couldn't help but breathe in sharply, he'd expected the Doctor to be able to guide them at least somewhat. "Well, from what the Admiral told Seven, in her timeline we had a child and were expecting another. That has to give us some hope that everything will be fine, right?"

"All four of us died in that timeline!" Seven exclaimed, able to feel her voice cracking in her throat.

The Doctor squeezed her shoulder, "But not in pregnancy." He reminded her gently, "That detail gives me more hope than you can imagine, after all, if my future self could figure out how to keep you and your child healthy, then I definitely will."

**A/n: I really did intend for this chapter to be longer, but it's been giving me so much trouble! I deleted my first draft altogether to start again and still had to rewrite parts of it! PLEASE REVIEW to inspire my struggling fanfic muse! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/n: Thanks to bellislefan for reminding me that I hadn't updated this story for a while. I'm sorry for the wait everyone!**

"Come on…" Chakotay muttered as he and Seven walked out of Sickbay together, reaching for her hand, "Let's go to my quarters and have a break from all this."

A small smile pulled at Seven's lips at that suggestion, but she still hung back, uncertain. "Shouldn't we return to the Bridge and assist the Captain with the preparations for returning to Earth?"

"I think that between Admiral Paris and the rest of the Starfleet bigwigs in this fleet she'll be being told _exactly _how to prepare." Chakotay replied with a slight shake of his head.

Seven's mouth twitched in wry amusement as her eyes took in his words and expression. "Somehow I am unable to imagine the Captain taking orders from anyone easily."

Chakotay chuckled in agreement, "No doubt she'll have a little trouble adapting to that." He squeezed her hand encouragingly as he saw an unreadable emotion pass rapidly over her face before being skilfully hidden again, and he had to assume she didn't like being reminded of all the changes that were heading their way, big and small. "I give you permission to go off duty with me honey, we've been up since God knows when…"

"It is now 0549 hours." Seven supplied helpfully, "I myself have been awake for the past 25 hours and 32 minutes."

"Well then, the Doctor would kill me if I didn't convince you to at least rest, if not regenerate." Chakotay told her firmly, particularly appalled by her work rate after the Doctor's blunt warnings of a few minutes ago that he wasn't sure Seven had entirely understood.

Seven allowed herself a soft laugh, feeling the vibrations in her chest and throat. "That assumption is probably correct." She commented drily as she comfortably laced her fingers through his and let him lead her away.

* * *

><p>Seven felt a sigh leave her as she entered Chakotay's dimly lit quarters; she couldn't help but be surprised by just how much these by now familiar surroundings, where she and Chakotay had spent some of their closest moments together, soothed her frayed nerves. Chakotay's hand pressing lightly on her shoulder brought her out of her reverie and she had to concentrate more than usual to read his lips in the semi-darkness, which was more suited as a background for drifting off to sleep than sight dependant communication. "Are you sure you don't want to regenerate?" he asked.<p>

"The Doctor said he needs to analyse how that will affect me now, remember?" she answered softly, "My alcove might need to be reconfigured…" She paused as she saw an uneasy grimace mar his face and touched his arm reassuringly, "I will be fine for the time being." Privately, she would have avoided regenerating right now even if she hadn't had their baby to think of, memories of the dying drones, not to mention the Queen's last invasion into her subconscious mind, were far too raw.

"_SLEEP THEN_?" Chakotay suggested, signing now and peering at her in concern.

Seven shook her head distractedly, although physically she felt drained to the point of near dysfunction, her mind was unnaturally alert, over-stimulated by the extreme events of the past few hours. Slowly, she made her way over to the window seat which hugged the entire length of the room's wide, almost panoramic, viewport. After four years of living in a cargo bay, she had to concede to the general wisdom purported by the ship's lowlier crewman, that senior officers did get nicer quarters, although she stuck to her Borg logic that as long as a space was functional the aesthetics didn't matter. Curling herself up on the seat, she looked out, her eyes skimming over the Starfleet vessels that flanked Voyager closely; she didn't want to think of the possible reasons behind their vigilance. Instead she found herself studying the stars spread out before them, mentally comparing the patterns to the ones she remembered from Borg star charts of the Alpha Quadrant. This cataloguing of her surroundings, a compulsive habit that generally calmed her by bringing a level of order to the confusing chaos of her life on Voyager, didn't settle her mind now however. With every star that she recognised as truly belonging to the Alpha Quadrant, she automatically calculated the exact distance to Earth, her anxiety building up as her time on Voyager slid ever more quickly through her fingers. It was akin to having a clock ticking in her head. It seemed like she'd been sitting there for a long time, in reality only a few moments, before Chakotay joined her. He sat close, putting an arm over the top of the window seat as if forming a protective shield around her, and it didn't take long before she took advantage of his proximity and tucked herself more wholly against his muscular frame, her head resting on his chest.

They sat together in that position for an indeterminable period without conversing, although occasionally a paranoid Seven would glance up at Chakotay's mouth to check he wasn't trying to speak to her. Most of the time though, she kept her cheek pressed lightly against his chest. She couldn't hear his heartbeat of course, but the constant and unwavering rhythm of vibrating beats was an oddly steadying comfort to her. Eventually, a heavy sigh from him woke her from her near doze and she looked up at him again, now seeing that his hand was gripping the back of the seat in a white knuckled grip and that his brow creased with anxiety every time he glanced down at her covertly. Her heart sank as she recalled the conversation in Sickbay again. She _had _hoped that it hadn't affected his mind set too much, but obviously it was her turn to be brave and reassuring, when he had been that for her countless times already. "Chakotay…" She began, sitting up straight so she could meet his eyes as well as see his lips clearly, "I'm going to be fine. I will do all I can to minimise the risks to our baby and to myself." She told him seriously, "I will obey the Doctor's orders exactly as he says."

Despite how touched he immediately was by her assurances, he thought he'd hidden his worry pretty well but supposed Seven knew him better than that, Chakotay couldn't help but be mildly amused by her last statement. Seven had never followed the Doctor's instructions exactly, and sometimes not at all. If there was anything she would tolerate the Doctor's coddling for however, he knew it would be for their baby. "I know you'll do all you possibly can Seven…" He was glad at that moment that she couldn't hear the emotional thickness in his voice as he silently added that he was worried it wouldn't be enough… He summoned a smile for her, "This news has made me so happy…" He laughed under his breath, "Tom Paris will meet his match for most doting father when the day comes, I promise you…"

Seven leaned forward and kissed him tenderly, "I already knew that." She murmured against his lips, her smile widening as he pulled her in to continue the kiss. It was true, the delight she'd witnessed in him when she'd told him, and later when he'd informed the Captain and the Doctor, had reassured her beyond her wildest expectations that he wanted this child. "The prospect is a wonderful one for me also, I believed my ability to have children had been taken away with assimilation…" She paused, blinking to clear away the tears forming in her eyes, "…but it is also a frightening one." She finally admitted to him, swallowing guiltily.

Chakotay put his arms tightly around her. "I think it must be natural to be amazingly happy and unbelievably scared at the same time Seven, because I feel the same way." He told her, his understanding gaze unwavering. "When I think of what the Doctor said about your health, I just…"

"That is not my biggest source of anxiety, although the baby's health does concern me." Seven cut in with a sigh, "I find myself fearing what it will be like afterwards…"

Chakotay frowned at her incredulously, "Seven, I already _know_ you'll be a great mother! That's the one thing that _doesn't _worry me!"

Seven tried to maintain the grateful smile his words brought on, but it soon fell under the weight of her fears. "I am Bo…" She started, correcting herself with a deep breath as she caught Chakotay's disapproving look, "I was Borg for a long time. I do not want my child to learn their ways from me, they should be human…"

Chakotay grabbed her shoulders to direct her full attention at him. "You _are_ human Seven!" he declared, signing the phrase emphatically as he spoke to make absolutely sure she understood him. Meeting her saddened, resigned eyes, he sighed. "Seven, the only thing about the Borg our child will learn from you is how much strength you have to be able to overcome the Collective like you have."

Seven stared at him in confusion, "But the crew always remark that I still act like a Borg…" She mumbled.

Chakotay shook his head, "Your mannerisms are…pretty unique sometimes, but you can't help it because you were with the Borg for so long. We've all gotten used to that and no one could judge you for it." He held her again, keeping her face close to his. "In all the _real _ways that matter Seven, you're human."

Seven nodded, swallowing hard and leaning into his shoulder as his words sunk into her heart. "What about my deafness?" she murmured as she pulled back again.

"What about it?" Chakotay asked honestly, stroking her hair distractedly.

"I won't be able to hear the baby crying." Seven pointed out tearfully, "How am I supposed to care for it properly?"

"Deaf people have been having children since humanity began Seven, and there's so much technology now that'll alert you just as easily as when you could hear…" Chakotay tried to assure her as best he could, although truthfully it was an unknown for him too. On the surface Seven had adapted so well to her impairment, lip-reading accurately and signing, that he sometimes forgot that it had been only just over three months since she'd suffered the catastrophic loss of her hearing and hadn't really been given space to deal with it fully, at least emotionally, with the hectic existence they led on Voyager. "The technology will help while the baby is really young, and then when it's older we can teach them to sign…"

Seven cleared her throat, "I suppose." She conceded before her usual stoicism returned somewhat. "We will deal with these issues after we are through the trial of pregnancy." She said softly.

"I'd like to get married first too." Chakotay said warmly, skilfully changing the subject to help them both feel better. "We could hold it in some absolutely beautiful places on Earth. I can't wait to show you around…"

"We could get married here." Seven broke in seriously.

"Here?" Chakotay echoed, "On Voyager?" She nodded and he blanched slightly, "Sweetheart, we'll be on Earth by tomorrow morning at the very latest, that's very short notice for a wedding. Don't you want to enjoy planning all out and making it perfect?"

"As long as you are willing to marry me, the wedding will be perfect for me." Seven replied, her gaze sincere, "The venue and other such considerations are irrelevant. I'd like the crew to be there, and we will undoubtedly be separated when we arrive on Earth…"

Chakotay cut off her flustered explanations with a gentle kiss. "You've convinced me." He whispered to her and returned her smile.

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D I hope this chapter was okay after such a long wait! **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/n: I'm so sorry I haven't updated this story for months, writers' block combined with a busy university schedule have conspired against it, but inspiration struck again today, enjoy. :)**

Seven's eyes felt surprisingly grainy and heavy as the gentle pressure of a warm hand on her shoulder brought her slowly back to awareness. She had to blink several times to refocus her sleep blurred vision on Chakotay, who appeared regretful to rouse her even as his lips formed her name. "I'm sorry." She murmured quickly in reply, feeling slightly confused as she forced her stiff frame to sit upright on Chakotay's couch before she recalled that her last clear memory was settling down with him here after coming to a consensus about their wedding. "I did not intend to sleep so deeply…"

Chakotay smiled ruefully as he reached over and fondly tucked a few strands of her hair, which had come free from her up-do as she dozed, behind her ear. "It's just those 25 hours of non-stop action catching up on you, not to mention all the other stress." His lips took on a wry twist and she saw his chest move in a sigh, "I woke up just before you and I don't regret the rest one bit."

Seven felt an apologetic smile of her own flicker across her face as she remembered another detail, "It can't have been too comfortable for you with me draped over you…"

Chakotay gave his head a resolute shake before grinning, "If you can't use your soon-to-be husband as a pillow how are you supposed to sleep?" he joked, leaning forward to kiss her tenderly, "_IT WAS THE MOST PEACEFUL THREE HOURS I'VE HAD IN DAYS_." He assured her in sign.

Seven nodded in agreement, returning the kiss before remarking teasingly, "It was wise to order me off-duty Commander."

"I'm allowed at least a few wise decisions in my career Crewman." Chakotay threw back in the same manner which made Seven laugh softly. Fundamentally, he meant what he said, making sure Seven and himself had some time to take stock of everything that had happened to them, everything that was about to change, was definitely one of his better ideas. The air of stoic melancholy that had hung around Seven earlier and had so concerned him had dissipated, it was almost as if they were about to face an ordinary day.

"Then you've more than fulfilled your quota." Seven answered immediately, glad when he registered her sincerity and looked touched. As she became fully alert, she realised the importance of time. "It's already 0907 hours; if we are going to arrange our wedding here we should begin organising…"

She started to rise hastily from the couch but Chakotay regained her attention by gripping her elbows to guide her back down, saying quickly when he saw her quizzical expression. "We'll go and talk to the Captain soon, she can get the ball rolling with us getting some help, you're not going to be arranging this alone…" He cast a concerned glance at her abdomen which lasted a split second but was enough to reinforce in Seven's mind that anxiety over her condition remained his prevailing thought at the moment, whatever she said to try and reassure him. She automatically put her hand on his broad shoulder as he continued, his chest quivering with a short laugh, "…not that the crew would let you, they're not exactly a group who keep their opinions to themselves." Seven laughed too, though she felt her chest tighten as she did so, soon the crew would go their separate ways, and the nosy camaraderie they laughed over now would mostly remain in the past. Chakotay must've seen some pain in her expression for when he squeezed her hands to regain her complete attention his face was serious. "I've got something to give…to offer you before we do anything else though."

Seven frowned as she saw the appearance of a nervous wrinkle between his brows and from the unnatural pauses between his words she was quite sure that he'd suddenly developed a slight stutter. "_WHAT IS IT_?" she signed cautiously, a lump of tension in the back of her throat preventing speech.

Chakotay read the unease in her ears as he stood up, wiping his spontaneously damp palms on his trousers as he did so, and felt guilty. He wasn't even sure why he was nervous, he was pretty sure Seven would declare the feeling irrational since he'd already asked her the big question, but somehow, in the minutes he'd sat with her in his arms as she slept on and he thought about things, this gift had gained significance in his eyes. He gestured to her to wait so that she wouldn't be more unsettled by his turning his back on her, then walked hurriedly over to his bedside table and snatched up the small box before returning to her and kneeling down, in his haste on both knees rather than the traditional one. "_I WANT TO GIVE YOU THIS SEVEN_." He signed, leaving the box resting on his knee as he did so before opening its stiff, aged lid.

Seven was surprised to feel a gasp of awe leaving her throat as she looked down into the interior of the faded blue velvet ring box. Nestled securely in a bed of tissue paper lay a slim ring of gold which was set with what her keen eyes recognised as an exquisite opal, its pale, shining surface reflecting every facet of the rainbow even in the soft lighting of these quarters. "Oh…" She breathed, barely aware of the exclamation as she tentatively reached out to touch it. "Chakotay, why would you give me…"

"As an engagement ring." Chakotay reminded her, looking down at the ring with a strange mix of contentment and sadness as he elaborated, "It was my mother's ring." His gaze shot up to hers again, "Not her engagement ring, my sister has that." Seven sensed he was apologetic about this but wasn't sure why. "My father gave her this later, as a gift just after I was born. Apparently it was a difficult birth, I was born feet first, contrary from the start…" He chuckled wryly, "Anyway, I know that she loved it, saw it as a memento, it was left to me after she died." He took a deep breath, gazing at Seven seriously, "Opal is my birthstone apparently, I know a diamond is more traditional, and god knows you deserve your own ring, but I thought…"

"You thought correctly." Seven interrupted as soon as she'd interpreted most of the words flowing over his lips, her own voice thick with emotion. "I would want no other. This ring commemorates you, that is much more emotive than tradition for me." She gulped, feeling surprisingly easy tears come to her eyes as Chakotay swiftly removed the ring from the box and slid it smoothly onto the fourth finger of her human hand.

"It fits perfectly!" he exclaimed in pleased amazement.

Seven nodded numbly as she stared down at the ring, overwhelmed by the significance of it even more than its beauty. "Are…you sure your mother would've wanted me to have this? It belongs to your family…"

Chakotay stopped her by kissing her, deeply and lovingly. "Seven, after we get married today you'll _be _my family. I love you more than anyone else and you're the mother of _my _child, this ring was meant for you."

* * *

><p>Captain Kathryn Janeway let out a long, shuddering sigh of exasperation as she looked down at the multitude of PADDs strewn over her Ready Room's floor as well as her desk. Starfleet's delay in allowing them free rein to return home was one she could understand, they had sprung a definite surprise on the sometimes painfully slow bureaucracy after all, but that empathy of sorts didn't exactly settle her mind. Unable to take her own advice that she doled out liberally to her crew to rest and relax, the wait had driven her to distraction and she'd dedicated herself to reviewing and editing her logs and mission reports in preparation for the mammoth debriefing, or most likely tens of debriefings, she had in store for her at Starfleet HQ. She supposed it was rather ludicrous to be so impatient over a few hours when she'd spent the last seven <em>years<em> leading Voyager here and had expected to spend many more continuing to do just that, but that was human nature for you. There was another reason for the distraction of course, one she'd rather not dwell on, the death of Admiral Janeway, no matter how much they'd clashed, was weighing heavily on her. She'd always known, rationally, that there couldn't be two of them forever, that as the timeline changed the older woman would cease to be, but still she knew that emotionally, her counterpart's death at the hands of the Borg would haunt her for a long time.

"Are we interrupting your work Captain?" Seven's naturally formal voice, still unerringly precise even now that she couldn't hear her own words, intruded abruptly on Janeway's meandering thoughts.

She quickly turned to face her protégé, seeing that Chakotay stood close at Seven's side, a slightly incredulous smile on his handsome face as he took in the mess of PADDs. "No, I need the interruption." She assured her, "I'm not sure if I'd count reviewing my logs for Starfleet's benefit top priority work right now, considering how much time we have before we're faced with Starfleet itself." She saw Seven and Chakotay exchange glances then and clarity hit her, she couldn't believe she'd actually rambled on about reports of all things beforehand! "_WHAT DID THE DOCTOR SAY_?" she demanded.

Seven lowered her gaze shyly, the tentative smile on her face and the way Chakotay squeezed her hand told Janeway part of the answer before the former Borg had even started to reply. "He has positively confirmed what I suspected."

Janeway was surprised at how big a smile her mouth could stretch to. "Oh, how wonderful!" she said sincerely, taking the unusual step of giving the younger woman a small hug, "Congratulations both of you!" she continued, reaching up to squeeze Chakotay's shoulder before her eye caught a sparkle from Seven's hand and she added wryly, "That ring deserves a mention too."

"Yes." Seven agreed happily before her face became more serious, even a little strained. "We'd appreciate it if you didn't inform anyone about…the baby yet Captain."

Janeway couldn't stop herself from inhaling sharply, an order for them to tell her exactly what the Doctor had said about the risks on the very tip of her tongue, but she fought to restrain the impulse as she met their pensive expressions and private glances. The time when she could push in on her crew's privacy for their sake and Voyager's, especially Seven's, was drawing to a close. It was painfully difficult to take a step back however. "Okay." She acquiesced quietly, "Wait until you're both ready."

"Thank you Captain." Chakotay replied, obviously aware of her act of restraint. "There's one other thing we wanted to tell you, we've decided to get married tonight, before we arrive at Earth in the morning."

"_Tonight_?" She echoed in disbelief, staring at their determined faces for a moment before trying to collect herself, "I'm not sure if that's possible…"

"I thought you told Chakotay you wanted to officiate at least one wedding as Captain of Voyager." Seven piped up.

"I do!" The Captain said with a laugh, "But I'll still be legal to conduct weddings on Earth too you know." She looked at Seven in concern, "Seven, don't you want a little more time to enjoy planning your wedding? I know that when I was newly engaged I…" She trailed off, suddenly overwhelmed with memories. Returning home really was making her sentimental.

"Captain…" Seven broke in gently, "I understand, but I do not feel I need that experience. I want to be married, and I'd prefer to do it here where everything is familiar and…loved."

"Yes." The Captain murmured in sudden understanding as she thought of how soon her crew would be fragmenting, perhaps never again to be so wholly united as it was now. "Actually, I can't think of a better way to celebrate our entire journey, as well as reaching home, than a wedding."

**A/n: PLEASE REVIEW! :D The next chapter should be the wedding and I would like your opinions on whether the story should continue beyond that. I definitely have ideas and most probably will continue with their lives after Voyager, but I don't want readers getting bored either and the wedding would be as good an ending as any. **


	20. Chapter 20

The Captain nodded firmly to herself, her gaze introverted as she glanced nostalgically around her Ready Room, fixating for an instant on the doors that led out to the Bridge that had been hers for so long, before she settled back on the expectant couple in front of her. "Yes, a wedding would be a perfect…" Seven saw her mentor's lips form the word 'end' before her face twitched in rejection to summon another, gentler word, "…conclusion to our journey."

Seven's own throat closed up momentarily, surprised by the overwhelming weight of emotion that suddenly blanketed her. It was indefinable; not fear, not regret, neither happiness nor grief…just an acknowledgement of what they'd been through and what was still to come hitting her all at once. Since she couldn't yet force the words from her mouth, she found herself making the simple but vital sign for 'thank you' first of all, the sweeping hand movement much more fluid and expressive than she usually allowed herself. As with her formal speech patterns, she'd been having trouble shaking off Borg influence when she signed, and thus was normally efficient and rather sharp in her signing. She felt Chakotay's frame shudder in a sigh, once glance at his face enough to reveal that he was just as emotionally affected as he echoed in speech what she'd told their Captain, "Thank you Kathryn."

Janeway shook her head, truly smiling now as she took the unprecedented affectionate step and took one hand of each of them and squeezed. "No need." They stood like that for a moment, as if she were a priest giving a blessing, before she switched into what Chakotay would later describe to the rest of the crew as 'wedding planner' mode. She stepped back, her hand flying to her comm. badge, beginning to pace around the room as she slipped into her natural rhythm of issuing orders.

Seven was abandoned and out of the loop as Janeway's lips became impossible to read, with her head bowed over her comm. badge and also constantly turning her back as she marched around the room like a general coming up with a battle plan. "_WHAT IS SHE SAYING_?" she signed to Chakotay, resisting the natural feeling of exasperation and inadequacy that still haunted her in situations like this.

An amused smirk danced briefly over Chakotay's face as he shot a sidelong glance in Janeway's direction, "_SHE'S CALLING UP THE CAVALRY_." He joked, his smirk widening into a boyish grin as Seven laughed light-heartedly in response, though whether at the joke itself or his laboured attempt to put it into sign he wasn't sure, he doubted the Captain would've appreciated it if he'd voiced the teasing quip. "_IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO ELOPE…_"

Seven laughed harder at his comically raised eyebrows and gamely responded with a roll of her eyes, "_IT BECAME TOO LATE FOR THAT THE MOMENT WE CAME IN HERE_…" Her hands halted mid flow as she saw Chakotay grimace in response to something, obviously something the Captain had told him since dismay now radiated over the older woman's face. "What's wrong?"

"Engineering just told me they took the replicators offline to repair some damage done to secondary systems during our journey through the transwarp conduit." Janeway replied.

Seven shrugged it off, "Considering the…perils of that mode of transport, we should be glad that the ship is not seriously or extensively damaged." She responded matter-of-factly.

"Yes, it is the second or third miracle of the past twenty four hours…" Janeway conceded before giving her protégé an almost reproving look, sometimes her lack of materialistic or aesthetic concern was still startling. "But you can't exactly arrange a wedding for tonight now. With replicators available it was going to be difficult, but without them…" She looked to Chakotay for support in her explanation, "You're not going to be able to select a dress, or even get a pair of wedding rings for that matter…"

Seven's face fell, disappointment beginning to attack her as her ideal of being married quietly, or at least within familiarity, on Voyager faded to leave her picturing a sideshow for Starfleet who would no doubt commandeer her for weeks and even months ahead until they were satisfied with her intel on the Borg. She had to take a deep, reassuring breath as nausea surged into her stomach again, for a fanciful moment she imagined that her baby, too, was objecting to this scenario for its parents' wedding. She glanced down at her hands, feeling a soft sigh leave her chest as Chakotay grasped her metal laced hand in his warm one comfortingly, his eyes on her face as she turned her own gaze up from the hopeful sparkle of that heirloom engagement ring. "I do not require such things." Seven finally said, still looking at Chakotay rather than the Captain, and hoping that her voice was steady, "I agreed to get married, and a lack of certain…traditions will not dissuade me." She blushed slightly as she peered through her lashes up at Chakotay, longing that he would understand. It was a difficult thing to articulate, the bond she felt they'd forged. In many ways, expecting his child, been given his mother's ring which meant more than anything new could have, she felt as if they were already married.

"Are you sure?" Chakotay anxiously signed as well as voiced the question, his hands lightly gripping her shoulders as he made sure he was speaking clearly, "I know we wanted to have it here, but you do deserve a full wedding too…"

Seven gently stepped out of his hold to regain his attention and interrupt. "I have more than I deserve." She stated with certainty, smiling as his face relaxed and softened to reflect the heartfelt statement better than any further words could. They shared a brief, tender kiss before Seven caught the Captain's watching eye and commented ruefully, "You would most likely have had to explain the wedding traditions to me anyway; the Borg would consider them…"

"Irrelevant." The Captain filled in, a short laugh distorting the word before she and Chakotay exchanged a knowing glance, "_WE KNOW SEVEN." _Her comm. badge must've beeped again because Seven saw her direct a few more words down to the device before she suddenly took Chakotay by the arm and began to lead him towards the door, "She may be the opposite of a bridezilla Chakotay but I won't have this turned into a shotgun wedding either. Say goodbye until tonight please." Janeway ordered half-seriously.

It was lack of context, rather than her lip-reading skills failing, that had Seven bemused now. "What was that word? Bride… And did you say 'shotgun'? How do weapons relate to a wedding?"

"_B-R-I-D-E-Z-I-L-L-A." _Chakotay finger-spelled out, giving her an affectionate and grateful kiss when she, as he'd known she would, remained unenlightened by the explanation, "It doesn't matter honey, you're definitely not one." He assured her, glad she couldn't hear the relief in his voice.

"As for the phrase 'shotgun wedding', I guess it means if the wedding were rushed or forced to prevent shame, but that doesn't stand up in this situation either." Janeway explained, sending Seven an apologetic glance for the flippant remark. "Look, I'm just saying we don't need to abandon all of the traditions, and one of the main ones is that the groom doesn't see the bride before the wedding, its bad luck. Chakotay can go and help coordinate things while you get ready."

Seven's brow furrowed, not particularly relishing the thought of being thrown into these wedding preparations blind without Chakotay's support. Despite distancing herself from them, she was beginning to get the impression that the crew wasn't going to let go of all of these wedding traditions just because they were proving inconvenient. "I will not take long to get ready, I have a formal uniform now as Starfleet regulation dictates, and I can also be of assistance repairing the ship…"

"Seven." The Captain cut in seriously, "I'm sure we'll be able to find you a dress somehow, and even if we can't, you should just be pampered for the day." She made a wry face, "I doubt the Doctor would approve you for Engineering work in your condition anyway."

Seven turned to Chakotay for support but sighed when she saw relief flood his face, the air of anxiety that had been hanging around him since the Doctor had confirmed her pregnancy dissipating. Seeing this was enough to make her submit, though somewhat warily. "As you wish."

Chakotay could see the doubt in her expression and hugged her, pulling back just enough so she could see his lips as he said, "Try to relax, for me, and I'll see you later."

Seven responded by urging him towards the door with a smirk, "I believe the tradition is that your presence will bring bad luck, which I doubt will help to relax, so go." Chakotay and the Captain laughed at her deadpan way of throwing their own superstitions back at them, and the former departed reluctantly after a lingering kiss, unaware that he was standing on the threshold of the door's motion sensors and that the Bridge now had a full view of what was going on in the Ready Room. Chakotay was glad that Seven couldn't hear the catcalls which echoed above the warm words of congratulation as he returned to the Bridge alone.

Seven turned back to face a satisfied Janeway as soon as Chakotay left them. "What exactly did you mean by 'pampering' Captain?" she questioned suspiciously.

Janeway's smile grew as she tapped her comm. badge, "_WAIT AND SEE_." She signed in reply, not needing to answer further as Naomi Wildman bounced into the room with her mother following at a more sedate pace behind her.

"Seven, the Captain says you're getting married today before we…and…" Naomi was so excited that her words were running together indistinguishably and Ensign Wildman had to gently rein her daughter in when she saw that Seven was entirely lost.

"Naomi, I'm sure Seven and Commander Chakotay were the ones who told the Captain they were getting married. Why don't you tell her how you want to help?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Seven. Was I hard to understand?" Naomi asked anxiously. Seven didn't have the heart to do more than nod regretfully, but the girl got the message and spoke more clearly, "We're going to take you to have your hair and make-up done, and try and find a dress for you."

"_SO THIS IS PAMPERING_?" Seven remarked to the Captain in sign over Naomi's head, breathing a mental sigh at her mentor's tactics. Calling in the one person she found hard to deny was a masterstroke. "I will allow you to assist me in that regard if you wish Naomi." She agreed softly.

Naomi's beaming smile in return made that concession more than worthwhile, since Seven now noticed that the child's keen eyes were red rimmed, her face pale. If there was anyone who could emphasise with the terror of the unknown she felt upon being faced with Earth, Naomi Wildman, the first child born on Voyager, was that person. "_GREAT!" _She signed enthusiastically, "_LET'S GO THEN_!"

As Seven was willingly led out of the Ready Room by the happy new bridal stylist and her mother, Harry's voice echoed through the Ready Room. "Admiral Paris is on the comm. line for you Captain."

"Patch him through here Harry." Janeway replied as she settled back down at her desk, the initial shock of Chakotay and Seven's evening wedding plans now a warm level of anticipation. "You're calling for an update on your little granddaughter Admiral?" She asked as Admiral Owen Paris' distinguished face appeared on her desk console's screen.

"I'd be glad of one, but I just heard from the proud parents myself." Admiral Paris replied, sounding equally proud of the new arrival.

Janeway smiled, relaxing enough to put her elbows on the desk as she leaned in, "Aren't you going to come over to visit the three of them in person?" Her stomach tightened in warning as a cloud passed over Paris' face, "Starfleet aren't blocking people from coming on board are they?" She questioned, aghast, "I've tried…I _can_ understand why they don't want us to land on Earth yet, but if we're under some kind of embargo I'd like to know about it!"

"They're just nervous Kathryn." Paris excused, "Of course the whole Fleet, the entire Federation, is delighted that Voyager has returned home safely. You should see the coverage you're getting; they're calling it 'The Voyager Miracle'…" He sighed awkwardly, "Starfleet has changed a lot since you left Kathryn, the outlook of the Federation itself has had to change…"

"Because of the war with the Dominion?" Janeway finished tightly, the tactical reports she'd received through the array communication system over the past few months had made agonising reading, even from a quadrant away.

"Yes." Paris confirmed simply, suddenly appearing older, "We've taken a beating, even if we did come out of it victorious. They attacked _Earth_…" He stopped to compose himself as Janeway's head moved in a solemn nod of understanding which he had to acknowledge, "I know you'll know what fear like that feels like." He said softly, not needing an answer before continuing, "We've had to become more hawkish, and that Borg transwarp conduit's appearance within a few lightyears of Earth was in more emergency security reports than Voyager's return has been in the headlines…" He looked at Janeway empathically, "That attitude won't stand up much longer, not when it's grabbed the public imagination so completely. You'll be given a homecoming to be proud of when you arrive tomorrow morning."

Janeway let out a breath she hadn't been aware of holding. "That's reassuring to hear Admiral, you have no idea."

Paris waved her away, "It's just Owen now Kathryn, you'll be an Admiral as soon as they can arrange the ceremony to pin the pips on your collar."

Despite meeting her counterpart in whose life that prediction had proven to be true, Janeway still inhaled sharply, trying not to think about what that would mean for her. If she thought too deeply she might not be able to function in her current role. "Well _Owen_, will you take up this Captain's offer of leave to come to my ship to see your granddaughter?"

Owen Paris grinned at her, "I think my wife was hoping you'd ask that, she'd on the diplomatic vessel from Earth that's rendezvousing with the fleet so that the two of us can do just that."

They're keeping a crew who haven't seen their families in over seven years in a holding pattern so they can flood the ship with diplomats and functionaries? Janeway thought resentfully, but stayed silent. She realised Voyager was the perfect publicity coup for many a wayward politician. "Hopefully you and your wife can sneak aboard before we're bombarded." She finally replied drily, when an idea suddenly occurred to her, "Admiral, our replicators are offline, could you possibly bring a set of wedding rings over with you?"

Paris' eyebrows shot up in a fashion amusingly reminiscent of his son. "Tom and B'Elanna don't have wedding rings?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, of course they do. I've been asked to marry two of my crewmembers, Commander Chakotay and Seven of Nine, tonight before we return to Earth."

"Your Maquis First Officer and the ex-Borg?" Paris queried, unable to keep the dubiousness entirely from his tone.

"Yes, why?" Janeway retorted tersely, feeling her hackles begin to rise.

"It's nothing personal Kathryn, you know that, but it's certainly sensible for you to marry them while they're still under your authority." He gave a frustrated grunt, "Some of the more…cynical minds in Starfleet wouldn't look too kindly on a Maquis leader who never formally rescinded his loyalties attaching himself to our newest asset against the Borg."

"An _asset_?" Janeway spat out, "Is that how they view Seven, as some sort of weapon? As for Chakotay's motives…she's pregnant with his child!" She forced herself to pause for breath, "Keep that between us." She muttered guiltily before continuing more indignantly, "I thought Starfleet's view on the remaining Maquis had changed since peace with the Cardassians fell apart…"

Paris shook his head sadly, "They were proved right, that doesn't mean they're trusted. Forget what I said for now Captain, those same people I'm talking about criticised my son and daughter-in-law's marriage in a similar way and I don't intend to start listening to them now either, and nor will anyone else reasonable. I'd be happy to bring over whatever is needed for the happy couple."

Janeway's smile returned briefly, "Well, rings are the main thing…" She winked at him, "Do you know anything about wedding dresses?"

Paris guffawed loudly, "That will need to wait for my wife's arrival and input I'm afraid. I may have three daughters but the only thing I knew about their wedding dresses was how much they cost me."

Janeway laughed too, but then, as if on cue another idea struck her. "If Mrs Paris hasn't left Earth yet, do you think the diplomatic ship would have room for one more person? Her name is Irene Hansen…"

**A/n: Please review! :D Thank you everyone for persevering with this story so far. I've finally settled on a plan for this story. I'll write the wedding and then an open-ended epilogue to which new chapters can be added if I'm inspired at a later date. I'll take any baby name ideas for the epilogue now. ;) **


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